A Loser's Log
by Zokolov
Summary: In their search for the missing Pokémon master Red, the slightly incompetent Kris and Iris end up in Hoenn and end up wrapped in many events: May and Brendan start their journeys, a Latias with a thirst for vengeance escapes captivity and a creature in the Distortion World plans for its 'promised day' using its instruments on earth.
1. Welcome to Hoenn

**WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE – SEASON 2: _A LOSER'S LOG_**

On the outskirts of the Hoenn region, on a remote location known as 'Southern Island', an explosion destroyed a chunk of a hidden Team Galactic base. The grunts alerted to the scene quickly fled when they saw the crimson and white beast propel itself into the air, firing another Mist Ball to obliterate a watchtower that was the only thing standing between it and freedom.

The facility's lead scientist, Charon, was soon alerted to the location, followed by Commander Saturn, but the two were only met with a horde of panicking grunts fleeing in the other direction and signs of destruction and carnage. Saturn yelled orders and insults at the fleeing grunts, using everything in his repertoire to questioning their masculinity and making disparaging comments about their mothers' appearances, but nothing worked – whatever they had seen had horrified them beyond reason.

"Are you done yelling yet, Saturn?" Charon asked calmly, having knelt closer to the ground and observed a large puddle of sticky, jet black liquid on the floor.

"What do you think the boss pays me for?!" Saturn snapped at Charon, but recoiled in disgust as he noticed the liquid. "Wha – the hell is that?"

"She was still hooked in machinery before she fled," Charon said as he touched the liquid with the tip of his finger, bringing it closer to his face and smelling it, causing Saturn to grimace. "Even a Pokémon like that can't get very far in her condition."

"Lord Cyrus has poured millions of poké-dollars on that thing, and now you're telling us to waste more to look for it?!" Saturn yelled. "I'm sick of this region already – do you know what this heat does to my beautiful hair? And there's not a decent brunch place to be found."

"I sometimes wonder why he keeps a whiner like you around," Charon said. "We're scuttling this place and returning to Sinnoh. Lord Cyrus needs us for the promised day. As for Latias – we'll use one of our local allies to help us."

"You mean...?" Saturn said and cringed. "I don't want Archie near this project. He's a psychopath!"

"Just the kind of person we need then," Charon remarked and grabbed some of Latias' black blood with him, putting into a test tube. "And besides – it looks like the experiment worked."

**~o~O~o~**

**Chapter One: _Welcome to Hoenn_**

_**Location: S.S. Anne, en route to the Hoenn region**_

"You don't happen to have a plan?" Kris asked.

"If you can stall them long enough for me to think one up... probably not," Iris muttered.

Two bulky sailors along with two Machoke had the short, black-haired Kris and the even shorter, purple-haired Iris cornered in one of the ship's utility rooms. Kris' Sandshrew and Iris' Fraxure were by their trainers' side, all participants assuming a fighting stance. As they backed into the utility room, however, what little room they had to escape was blocked by the beret-wearing waiter.

"_Il est bien fait, m__es__ ami__s_!" the waiter said in a thick, Kalosian accent. "But this is where your running ends.

Kris and Iris backed against each other, Kris and her Sandshrew facing the waiter while Iris facing off against the two sailors.

"No one has yet faced _mon chaton_ Pokémon and won," the waiter bragged. "Come out!"

Kris was expecting something horrifying, but what hovered towards her instead was just a little lilac Pokémon about a foot in height. And yet, Sandshrew started to shiver, as did Kris as she looked into the Pokémon's large, purple, unblinking eyes.

"Kris, what kind of Pokémon is he using?" Iris whispered.

"Um... it's kind of feline-ish," Kris mumbled. "Do you expect me to memorize them all?"

"Can you give me anything else?" Iris asked.

"Well, the look on its face makes it look like it's seen some serious sh-"

"It's Espurr," Iris said immediately. "Psychic-type Pokémon native to the Kalos region, weighs around 7.7 pounds."

"You need a hobby," Kris grunted.

"Whatever we do, we must not upset it," Iris said. "If it loses control of its powers, the result may be a shock wave up to 300 meters in diameter. So, I recommend we do this carefully and-"

"Shrew, Slash!" Kris yelled quickly.

Kris' Sandshrew leaped at the Espurr, but a psychic shield it had erected bounced the little ground-type backwards. Iris ordered Fraxure to use Dragon Pulse on the Machoke, then charge at them with its tusks. Iris herself jumped on the back of the other sailor, putting her hands over his eyes.

"Guess who?" she asked playfully.

"Stay still, I've got this!" the other sailor yelled and raised his fist.

But Iris jumped out of the way, leading the sailor to punch and knock out his buddy. Iris then tripped the other one and put her foot in his neck, holding him still and watching her Fraxure deal with the Machoke.

Meawhile, Espurr was just yawning as it easily kept Sandshrew at bay, blocking every single one of its attacks with its psychic powers as the waiter laughed maniacally.

"_Céder_, Kris, and submit to your fate!" he yelled. "You can't escape it much longer."

"You know, you have no idea how often I heard that back in Johto," Kris remarked. "There was a guy who could transform into my mirror image in a second, a ninja girl who could kill you before you drew a breath and an old man who could manipulate ice. I survived them all – what chance do you have? Shrew, Defense Curl!"

Shrew stopped attacking the Espurr and backed a few feet away from it, curling itself into a ball, hiding its soft, white underbelly. The waiter and his Espurr watched in confusion.

"Now, Rollout!" Kris ordered.

Its tough hide shining as the Sandshrew strengthened itself, the Pokémon started spinning and launched itself at the Espurr, breaking through its psychic barrier and knocking the psychic-type out. Gaining more momentum, Shrew spun away from Espurr and circled around the room before striking the waiter next, hitting him square in the face and knocking him out, the waiter uttering a muffled '_Merde!_' before falling.

"Yes!" Kris and Iris both yelled and attempted to high-five each other, only to miss and jab each other in the eye instead.

"Ow!" Kris wailed as she rubbed her sore, watered eye. "We need to work on that a bit more."

"Yeah," Iris grumbled. "You really need to work on your hand-eye coordination."

"Hey, I'm not the one with their nose stuck in a book all the time!"

But the two stopped their arguing and frightfully hugged each other as the door of the utility room was punched open by a sailor even larger than the two they fought before. Seeing him emerging into the room made Shrew and Fraxure do the same, the enormous sailor observing the chaos in the room.

"H-Huey," Kris and Iris stuttered simultaneously.

"I've been looking for you, Kris and Iris," the first mate said threateningly. "You had to know this was coming, but there's no reason to hide any longer."

Kris let go of Iris and threw herself at Huey's feet.

"Is there no other way?" she pleaded. "Can't you find it in your heart to let this one slide?"

"Nice try, but unless you come with me now, I'll have to talk to Captain Cutter personally," sailor Huey said.

"It's over, Kris," Iris said, sighing in resignation. "We should at least do it with dignity."

"But why?!" Kris screamed, her hand in the air. "What did we do to deserve this?!"

Huey shoved a sheet of paper in front of Kris' face. "Your names are in the list, Kris," he said. "All employees of the ship have to do it when their turn comes, and it's almost ten PM: the kitchen has to be cleaned!"

"_Damn you all_!" Kris wailed dramatically.

Soon enough, Kris, Iris, Shrew and Fraxure were wearing aprons, rubber gloves and hairnets, scrubbing the grubby, food-stained floors, walls and other surfaces of the luxury liner S.S. Anne's kitchen. To maintain the high quality of the ship's food and service, cooks and other kitchen staff had to put all their effort and focus on their work, leaving the employees at the bottom of the totem pole to clean up after them every evening. Kris would have scrubbed the deck, cleaned the bathrooms, given the Captain a massage, anything to get out of the most disgusting work detail on the ship.

The other employees knew it as well, and had used every trick they had to give Kris and Iris the crappy assignments when they had come on board. Spontaneous battles had often erupted when it came to solving who got the worst jobs. Worse yet, Captain Cutter, a devout Pokémon-lover, had forbidden employees from overusing their Pokémon for straining work, though he allowed Shrew and Fraxure to roam free as the crew had taken a liking to them.

"How long do we have to stay on this stinking ship?" Kris complained as she poured something extremely potent and smelly to unclog the drain. "How long have been here, anyway?"

"Three months," Iris said while scrubbing a particularly nasty stain on the floor. "But come on, Kris, you can't tell me you haven't enjoyed this on _some_ level! Think about all those people and Pokémon from all around the world we've gotten to see! How many people can say they've experienced the same?"

"If its gets us to Hoenn, it's worth it," Kris grumbled. "But how many places have been through already? We left here from Vermilion City, went through the Johto coastline, the Sevii Islands, some place called Oblivia and some strange ports and islands I haven't even heard of!"

"You know, the captain could have easily turned us down," Iris said. "But he gave us these jobs and allowed us to earn our way – we might even get a big bonus when all this is over!"

"And in the meantime, I have to deal with unimaginable filth gathering up under my nails," Kris grunted as she started to scrub the drain clean – she wondered if last week's crew had done it at all.

Iris couldn't think of a bright side about that, but she didn't have to, as an announcement through the ship's PA system soon answered their prayers:

"_Attention passengers. We will arrive in Petalburg City in twenty minutes. We'll make a forty-five minute stop __before heading to our next destination, Slateport City._"

"Petalburg," Kris muttered, her face slowly lighting up as she realized what was happening. "Hoenn! We've made it! Shrew, get a move on! We have to get this done quickly!"

"I think I'm almost done here," Iris said. "Do you want me to bring the hose?"

"Don't bother," Kris said, smiling mischievously as she opened one of the Poké Ball on her belt.

Kris' main fighting Pokémon, her Feraligatr, emerged from it, roaring and stretching its bulky limbs as it got out after a long while. It was a large, blue, bipedal crocodile-like Pokémon with strong jaws and plenty of sharp teeth, as well as even sharper red spikes coming out of its head, back and tail.

"Kris," Iris said quietly, gazing out of the kitchen's small, grubby window in thought, even though it was too dark outside to see a thing. "Do you think we'll find what we're looking for from here?"

Kris tensed up after hearing the question. The honest answer as something she didn't want to say. But she had worked her fingers to the bone just to get this far – the answers they were looking for just _had_ to be there.

"I have a feeling we will," Kris said and forced on a smile. "After all, we have at least one lead: that Steven guy. We should find him from Rustboro City."

Iris nodded and smiled weakly before resuming her cleaning. Kris shifted her focus on her Feraligatr.

"All right, Croc," she told it. "This place needs to be spotless before the ship reaches Petalburg. How about you give it a try?"

Croc nodded and opened its mouth. Hearing what Kris said, Iris almost jumped up, eyes widened in terror.

"Kris, wait!" she yelled. "M-maybe I should just get the h-"

"Hydro Pump!"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Route 101, Hoenn**_

Brendan Ruby, a short, 17-year old boy with brown eyes and black hair mostly covered by a white beanie was cycling towards Littleroot, a quiet little backwater in southwestern Hoenn. It was where he and his family had originally moved to from the Johto region before moving again to Petalburg City. At the moment, he had two important reasons to visit the place. One was finally getting himself a Pokémon, something he had yearned for ever since he first made a dazzling outfit for his father's Vigoroth – something his father didn't quite appreciate.

Another reason was a person who had lived in Littleroot Town all her life. She was the one who had befriended Brendan when he was new in town, and someone whom Brendan hadn't seen in two years. Getting a Pokémon was nerve-wrecking, enough; having to figure out what to talk about with her made his heart beat rapidly.

What's more, it was past ten PM, Brendan having put off leaving Petalburg City until he had polished his bicycle and decorated with some cut accessories. It was dark outside and many of the lampposts on the quiet sand road he cycled on had burnt out. Quite honestly, Brendan would rather be home sewing and asking the Pokémon to be delivered it to him. The sounds of the Hoothoot and Poochyena were clearly audible, but Brendan was sure they'd leave him alone if he stayed on the path.

Fairly sure. About 42% sure, maybe.

As he passed a sign indicating Littleroot Town was just a hundred yards away, something moved in the bushes.

He was now 37% sure nothing would attack him.

Brendan stopped his bike and let out a high-pitched squeal as something emerged from the woods and stepped directly on his path.

"Don't hurt me!" he wailed and covered his head with his hands. "I'm too pretty to die!"

"Well, you certainly haven't changed," a familiar voice remarked and stepped into the light.

Brendan moved his hands away to look at the arrival. "Muh... May?" he stuttered.

May Birch, a girl taller than him with chin-length brown hair and blue eyes who wore a bandanna and a tattered red outfit smiled at him. An overpowering sense of awkwardness filled Brendan – for two years, the two had been apart, and now that they finally met, he had no idea what to say. And he was mildly ashamed of his pathetic screaming earlier.

"It was about time you showed up," May remarked. "My dad said he called you early this afternoon. How did it take you this long to get here?"

"May..." Brendan said quietly. "There's... something I want to ask you."

May raised her eyebrows, clasping her hands expectantly. "W-what is it?" she whispered.

"_What happened to your clothes_?!" Brendan wailed.

May blinked and stared at him. "What?"

"That's the outfit I made for you!" Brendan cried as he stepped closer to inspect the many tears and stains on May's shirt. "How did it get in such condition?"

May groaned, her eye twitching. "Who cares about that?!" she snapped at Brendan and grabbed him by his arm. "If you _must_ know, I've been looking around for you around Route 101 for hours, having to fight off wild Pokémon with a stick!"

"This just won't do," Brendan said, shaking his head. "Wait here, I have supplies in my bike's basket. We need emergency patching, stat!"

"I said forget it!" May shouted. "Come on, we need to get to my dad's lab!"

Brendan's weak protests faded as May dragged him to Littleroot Town and to Professor Birch's lab, where the professor, May's father, greeted the duo. Though Brendan had been intimidated by this large man at first, he had eventually come to learn that the professor was a kind, relaxed person. Brendan still couldn't understand why someone with such a spotless, expensive laboratory setup would spend his time wandering around the dirty outdoors – and wear such tacky shorts.

"Ah, Brendan, you've made it!" Birch said. "I was about to close up shop for the day. May was worried sick about you over here!"

"I was not!" May protested. "I just want my Pokémon quickly!"

"Yes, the two of you will finally begin your journeys into adulthood," Birch said emotionally. "There's something so... _beautiful_ about that."

"For Arceus' sake, dad," May snapped when Birch sniffed. "Don't get all weepy."

"I'm sorry, May," Birch said and blew his nose loudly, prompting Brendan to take a step away from him. "You were just such an invaluable help around here, helping me observe wild Pokémon behavior. And Brendan, why, without those pastries you and your mother baked for me, I would have passed out many times during my all-nighters."

Brendan grinned. "Happy to help, prof," he said. "But I'm with May – I can't wait to see my Pokémon. Just so you know, May, I want the cutest one!"

May scoffed. "It's all yours," she smirked. "I want one that will kick yours to the curb."

"Eugh, you don't want to battle straight away, do you?" Brendan said, recoiling. "How barbaric! I want my Pokémon to look the best it can first."

May shook her head. "With that attitude, you won't defeat a single gym leader."

Brendan crossed his arms and turned away from May. "Who says I want to?"

"But... what will you do, then?"

To answer, Brendan climbed on one of professor Birch's desks and raised his finger dramatically in the air, though the effect would be bigger were he at least a little taller.

"This region is home to some of the greatest Pokémon Coordinators in the world," Brendan announced. "Their mission: to spread the message of beauty across the world. To compete in Pokémon Contests and earn ribbons until they're qualified to compete in the Grand Festival and test their skills against the Top Coordinator – in the case of this region: Wallace! And _I_, Brendan Ruby, am going to become one of them!"

Brendan spontaneously pulled a poster of the man in question from his jacket, showing a picture of a pretty, turquoise-haired man wearing a white beret and wrapped in a white cape. Professor Birch just stared, while May hid her snickering by covering her mouth with her gloved hand.

Brendan felt his face getting red as May quietly laughed at him. "What's so funny?"

"A Pokémon Coordinator?" she laughed. "_You_? Well, they are a prissy bunch, but I doubt you'll want to get your pwecious Pokémon dirty by traveling around and entering Contests. You've never went beyond Petalburg – there's no way you'll win even one ribbon. And besides, Wallace? You know he's also the Pokémon League Champion, right?"

"What?!" Brendan gasped and jumped off the table. "Since when?"

"Last year already, that Stone guy wanted to resign," May said. "Didn't you watch the tournaments?"

Brendan stared at May. "Is that a rhetorical question?"

"Well, personally, I think it's great to follow your dreams," said Professor Birch, whose presence May and Brendan had almost forgotten. "But I'm a bit curious, Brendan. I would have thought Norman would have wanted you to train at his gym."

The mere mention of his father's name made Brendan's shoulder slump and his face fall. He turned away theatrically and made a speech that he had probably rehearsed earlier.

"Yes, 'tis true," he said, prompting May to roll her eyes. "I have been planning this for months now, but my father would not approve. He would say it's a waste of time, that I need to become a brutish battler like him to 'defend the region' from something. Like what? Tourists? Sunshine? How can he be so blind? It is a tragic tale of a man overcoming his final obstacle: his own father, who-"

"Okay, take it easy, I didn't mean to incite you," Professor Birch said awkwardly. "I'm sure you'll work things out. You're family, after all. I'm not particularly keen on sending May out on the world either, but she's almost an adult and I can't stop her. Now then, would you like to choose your Pokémon? Unfortunately, I already gave the Treecko to a promising young man who had just moved to the region and desperately needed a Pokémon, but you still have two to choose from."

Professor Birch led May and Brendan to a table with two Poké Balls on them. Using a handheld device, he scanned the Poké Balls, their contents showing up on screen and allowing May and Brendan to look.

The first one was Torchic, a little orange chick-like Pokémon that was a fire-type. The second one was Mudkip, an equally tiny blue water-type with a large fin sticking out of its head.

"Neither of them look very strong," May lamented – based on what she remembered, the Treecko had at least a little more intimidating look to it.

"But both of them are super-cute!" Brendan squeed. "Oh, I don't even care! You go first, May!"

May's face hardened. This was it – if she would choose the Mudkip, she would have an immediate type advantage. But that wasn't what she wanted. When the time came, she wanted to utterly destroy Brendan, and what better way to do it than to trounce him even with a type disadvantage. After some more consideration, May finally grabbed Torchic's Poké Ball.

"All right," Brendan said and grabbed Mudkip. "My very own Pokémon! Wait 'till you see the outfit I'll make you!"

"Come over here," Birch said.

The professor showed May and Brendan a map of the Hoenn region. The geography of this tropical place was very varied, with mountains and deserts to the north and lush green forests to the east. The eastern part of Hoenn was almost entirely ocean, with islands scattered all over the place. The Pokémon League was in Ever Grande City, a metropolis on an island in the southeastern corner of the region.

"I recommend you two stick together until Oldale Town at least," Birch said, pointing at the town directly to the north from Littleroot. "From there, Brendan can cross the swampland and head to Slateport City to get his Contest Pass. May, you can head to Petalburg and try for a gym badge, though I'd recommend skipping that gym entirely and moving on to Rustboro. I'm sure you know that Norman has a reputation of being the strongest leader in the region."

"And I don't care!" May boasted. "_I'm_ not afraid of him. In fact, me and Torchic can beat him all by our lonesome."

Brendan scoffed. "Ordinarily I wouldn't care, as I'm sure you two brutes will get along just fine. But are you seriously going to strain that poor baby so early? At least let me trim its feathers!"

"You doll up your own Pokémon!" May protested and put Torchic's Poké Ball on her belt.

Looking at the map, though, May got an idea. The map had the locations of Hoenn's gyms and Contest Halls marked on them, and May had already figured herself a good route. They said going through the entire region to get all eight gym badges would last about 4-6 months. The famous Red from Kanto did his in a few days over three months. May was confident she'd do even better.

"Say, Brendan," she said cockily, hands on her hips. "You think you've got what it takes to take on the Coordinators of Hoenn?"

"Of course," Brendan said proudly. "With Mudkip and the other Pokémon I'm going to get, we'll be the most beautiful team in all the region!"

"Then we'll make a deal," May said. "A bet, if you will. You know Phileas Fogg?"

"...no," Brendan said.

"Well, it doesn't matter. We'll make a bet: we will reach our respective goals in eighty days. Eight badges and championship for me, four ribbons and Top Coordinator status for you. Whoever gets there first, wins. What do you say?"

Brendan grinned.

"You're on," he said. "But first we have to go to... Oldale Town, was it? Hmm..."

"What?"

"Just thinking that, if you really want to win... you have to catch up to me first! Sucker!"

Pocketing Mudkip's Poké Ball, Brendan dashed out of the lab, May quickly giving chase to him, moving faster than even her father thought was humanly possible. Birch looked out of his lab's window and saw May tackling Brendan to the ground before getting up and running away, Brendan being unhurt by outraged by dirt getting on his clothes, giving chase to May.

Looking at the sight, Birch sighed. "Just what will those two get themselves into..."

His musings were interrupted by his phone ringing. Wondering who would have something urgent to talk about this late, knowing that it couldn't be his wife, seeing as his house was only a few minutes worth of walking away. Birch picked up the phone.

"Hello?" he said. "Um, who? Wha – really? Lance? From the Indigo League? Well, this is quite an honor, I don't think we've met before. How can I..."

Birch frowned, suddenly gripping the phone tightly.

"Team Aqua?"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: S.S. Anne, Petalburg City Harbor, Hoenn**_

Kris and Iris stood before the S.S. Anne's captain, their hair and clothes soaking wet and dripping water all over the captain's office. The old Captain Cutter raised an eyebrow at that, but the two girls refused to divulge what had happened, though Iris gave a few pointed glares in Kris' directions.

"All finished in the kitchen, then?" Cutter asked, and the two nodded sternly. "Very good. A promise is a promise, and you two have done more than enough to earn your keep. In fact, you've done so well that I've taken the liberty of giving you two a little bonus each."

Cutter handed Kris and Iris an envelope each. Iris opened it carefully while Kris practically ripped hers apart opening it. Inside both was a cheque with the same sum written on both.

"Five thousand poké-dollars?!" Kris yelled out. "Captain, this is really-"

Cutter raised his hand to silence Kris. "You're welcome," he said simply. "From what I've heard, most of your money was spent just getting to Vermilion City. I know what it's like to set foot in a strange land, so I hope this will get you started. Really, it's practically nothing, considering our clientele. It seems we've arrived in Petalburg City, just like you wanted."

"Thank you, captain," Iris said formally and bowed, Kris doing the same a bit half-assedly. "I never thought I'd even see the famous luxury liner."

The captain just seemed bothered by the excessive politeness. "Really, you deserve it. I respect that you wished to earn your way to your goal."

Kris nodded, though it was not like she had any other options. She was too poor for a plane ticket, anyway, and few direct ferry trips left for Hoenn. The luxury liner S.S. Anne was their only choice, but that had meant having to wait until the ship finally made a stop in Hoenn.

Cutter stood up and walked over to one of the many swords he had hanging on his wall, brushing his finger over it.

"You know, this ship has cruised around the world endlessly since it was over a decade ago," Cutter mused as he inspected the dusty sword. "I've gotten to meet people from all over the world and have no regrets over taking his job, but I do wonder if I could still experience the same adventures when I was young had I chosen a different path."

"Captain?" Kris asked in concern – though Cutter had been friendly to them, he hadn't exactly exchanged much dialogue with her and Iris and he certainly hadn't talked about his personal life, though the rest of the crew talked about him as if they revered him.

The captain smiled at Kris and Iris. "From what you told me when you first came on board, this isn't a mere backpacking trip you two are on. Why don't you tell me where you're from and why you came all this way?"

Kris and Iris glanced at each other uncertainly. Their reasons for being there weren't exactly secrets, but talking about them to random people didn't feel like a good idea.

"I'll tell you what," Cutter continued when Kris and Iris stayed quiet. "You tell me at least the basics of why you're here, and I'll do you a favor that might help you get around. Hoenn is a big place, after all."

Kris glanced at Iris again, and Iris just shrugged, smiling slightly.

"I guess there's no harm," she told Kris and faced Cutter. "Captain, I'm from the Village of Dragons, which is on the outskirts of Unova. My home will most likely be destroyed and my family and friends will be forced to abandon their way of life. I'm here to get stronger, find a way to prevent that and find a way to carry on the dragon clan's legacy if that fails."

Cutter nodded. "A respectable goal," he said. "I had completely underestimated today's youth. What about you, Kris?"

Kris looked at Cutter in the eyes. "I'm from New Bark Town, and as for why I'm here - many reasons. To become stronger and to study some ancient writings we were unable to translate. But most importantly, we have reason to believe that... um..."

"We can trust him," Iris said cheerfully, and Cutter nodded encouragingly.

"Well, you know of Red?" she asked, and Cutter nodded again. "Yeah, I don't think there's anyone in this nation who doesn't. We want to find out how and why he disappeared three years ago, and our investigation has led us to believe that he may be in Hoenn."

"Well, that wasn't too hard, was it?" Cutter said and returned behind his desk. He wrote something on a piece of paper which he handed over to Iris. "If you two need to get farther than Petalburg or Rustboro, visit an old friend of mine from my Navy days. He's called Mr. Briney and he lives near Petalburg, if I recall. Just show him that paper and tell him that it's a favor for me, and he'll do what you ask. But I recommend you spend the night in Petalburg – it's getting a bit late."

"Thank you, captain," Kris said, and she and Iris saluted Cutter, even if it was a civilian ship and they were no longer his employees anyway.

As Kris and Iris left the ship, many members of the crew were there to see them off. The Kalosian waiter had recovered and Kris and Iris were apologizing him profusely, though he assured he got slapped around a lot anyway. Sailor Huey was particularly emotional, grabbing Kris and Iris in a suffocating hug with his muscular arms and bawling his eyes out about how they were one of the finest crew members he ever had the pleasure to serve with. The girls were eventually able to stop his crying by assuring him they'd write.

Eventually, Kris and Iris had to wave their goodbyes and headed for the Petalburg Pokémon Center, where they planned to spend the night, aiming to start their trip towards Rustboro early in the morning. Kris was writing something on his journal, which she refused to call a 'diary' despite Iris' insistence and preferred 'a chronicling of her journey for the future generations to find'.

"_Kris' log, day 1 in Hoenn. __Though getting here was a worse ordeal than training for the Silver Conference had been, we've finally made it, and our journey couldn't have started better. __Captain Cutter promised to help us and we seemed to make a good impression on the crew. Well, Iris did anyway – I didn't talk to them much, just used my free time to train and occasionally challenge passengers to battles whenever the captain or Huey weren't around. Iris __seemed to think it was a valuable experience – __personally, __I can't wait to shower and get the smell of saltwater out of me. __Dry land, I could kiss you if you weren't so polluted!_"

"_I may not be much of a trainer __yet__, __but I can at least say I keep my promises: I will find Red, and I will __bring him back. And when I do, he's gonna tell me the secret to becoming the very best – like no one ever was_!"

"Ehh, that sounds stupid," Kris muttered and erased the last sentence.

**~o~O~o¨**

_**Location: Unknown, Hoenn**_

Latias had hidden herself in a cave somewhere in the Hoenn region, using the cover of darkness to get around. She had no idea how many miles she had flown, as every movement caused her agony, the numerous wounds she got from her experiments still bleeding. But more than the pain, her judgment was clouded by her unrelenting rage and lust for vengeance. She would never forget the face of the human who had wronged her – and after him, the rest would have their turn. As soon as she would recover from her wounds, it was time to go on the hunt.

"_I wouldn't do it if I were you_."

A voice echoed all over the cave – no, in Latias' mind. This made Latias certain that whoever it was, it was not a human. But the only Pokémon who had communicated with her like that was her brother. Could it be...

_"__I just… I just want this to end_," Latias said as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "_I want to be with my brother again_."

_"You and I both know he wouldn't want that to happen just yet," the man continued relentlessly. "And we both know he wouldn't want you obsessing about him. As for the first part… it can be arranged. You can end it all, and you can honor your brother by finishing the work he started. Save our kind from the humans and all Pokémon who stand by their side. If we succeed… both you and your brother can finally be at peace."_

_"____But how? I'm stuck in this place!__"_

_"You are only limited by your will to survive. In this case, a little luck helps too. I've given you a little push, as you can see. The rest is up to you."_

No. It was not him. Latias had to accept that Latios was gone, and that she couldn't follow him. Not yet anyway. Not before his will would be done.

But then, who was it?

"You have to learn to control that power of yours," the Pokémon continued, contacting her telepathically.

Latias was too wounded to properly survey the area, and whoever was talking was shielding themselves from Latias' powers.

"And you were captured by them – you're clearly not invincible," the Pokémon said again. "They will throw everything they have against you if you attack them blindly, and all you'll get is a couple of dozen, maybe a hundred victims. Why not search for a way that will get rid of an entire region at once?"

Latias was amused. _This_ was more relevant to her interests.

"You know of something like that?" she asked.

"I might."

Though the cave had been completely dark before, it was suddenly filled with intense blue light emanating from a purple, bipedal Pokémon with strong feline traits, enveloped in a bright blue aura. It was a psychic-type, Latias knew that. It was also powerful, even if it was smaller and most likely weaker than Latias herself. Either way, its offer intrigued her.

"My name is Mewtwo," the Pokémon said. "You and I have a lot in common."

"For instance?" Latias asked weakly – if the Pokémon had come there to kill her, it would have done it already, she believed.

"We both suffered at the hands of humans," Mewtwo said slyly, prompting Latias to look at it, staring straight into its eyes that glowed bright blue. "We both have a desire to pay back that suffering. And I believe we both have a common benefactor – Giratina, I believe its name was?"

_"The Devil?" the man laughed again, catching Latias off-guard. "Oh, no. Although I must admit that there are humans and Pokémon out there who often like to imagine me as such. I guess I should be flattered. The Beast is more accurate, I suppose, but I'm not here to take your soul, Latias. I'm here to help you find it. To help you uncover your __true__self. I'm your friend, Latias, and you can call me Giratina."_

"How about it, Latias?" Mewtwo asked. "Can I join you?"

* * *

**_Author's Notes (you won't be seeing these much later on): Why are the protagonists 17 years old? It seems arbitrary, but I figured 10 was unrealistic and too young for the story I had planned. They were initially going to be 18-22, but I was told that the characters acted a bit too childishly for that, so I chose 17. _**

**_Anyway, welcome to the story. Though it says that this is a sequel to my story 'When Worlds Collide', it's self-contained almost entirely. This first chapter is a little taste for what's to come and will be updated once I finish the 'Worlds Collide', which is only four chapters away from conclusion. Latias' story is chronicled in more detailed in my oneshot 'The Instrument of Evil', but again, all necessary detail is given here. I hope you enjoy this, and all feedback, positive or negative, is appreciated. And just reading this is appreciated - I will avoid these author notes in the future._**

**_The world in this story is based on the games, but goes off the rails in a bit of an AU way, and elements of the PokéSpe manga (the best Pokémon manga, IMO) and even some parts of the anime (but not many). Especially May and Brendan are sort of based on Sapphire and Ruby from that manga. I hope I can deliver what I promise: an epic adventure filled with conspiracies, character development, action and stupid jokes. And no OC's, even._**


	2. Eighty Day Challenge: May

"_You're sure of it?_"

"Yes," said Captain Cutter, having a sailor hold his phone to his ear as he gazed out of his cabin's window. "And if they're indeed looking for him, they'll wound in Rustboro soon."

"_I guess I'll have to go and meet them __before that__. Thank you, Captain_."

"I don't know what you have planned, but I hope it's not to hurt those two – they can still be useful. Not that you'd be able to, if I understand it right."

"_Don't worry. You could almost say that they're good old friends of mine. Ciao!_"

At the other end of the line, a young man with dark blonde hair, golden brown eyes and a scarred face wearing a long blue coat hung up on Cutter from a payphone in Rustboro City. Mirroring himself from the metal of the payphone, Wes adjusted his hair and coat before calmly strutting towards the Petalburg Woods.

**Chapter Two: _Eighty Day Challenge: May_**

_**Location: Unknown, Hoenn**_

Latias stared at her new visitor, but Mewtwo stared back unflinchingly, expecting an answer to its query. Finally, Latias broke down in hysterical, cackling laughter, ignoring the blood spilling from her many wounds as she laughed.

"_Join me_?!" Latias screeched. "If I'm going to make sure every last human and every Pokémon that dares to defend them feels my wrath, I sure as hell won't be needing you. Look at you – you're maybe half my size! And how does your head not roll off with that skinny neck of yours?! The only thing I want you to do is _die_!"

Latias fired a Mist Ball at Mewtwo, but all Mewtwo blocked the attack with a flick of its finger. Latias was surprised, but quickly hid her expression, throwing another insane fit of laughter interspersed with loud coughing and spitting some of the thick, black blood in her throat.

"Was that supposed to be impressive?!" Latias howled. "If you're a psychic-type, then you're going to find my next move rather frustrating."

Latias' scales went from crimson to a dark carmine color and her irises and pupils seemed to vanish, leaving only her milky white eyes behind. Mewtwo flinched as it saw Latias become enveloped in a purple glow. Before Mewtwo could sense what was going on, Latias fired a crimson shock wave from its body to every possible direction, parts of the cave being evaporated by the force of the attack. Mewtwo was knocked backwards, but maintained its footing and absorbed the attack, refusing to let itself fall. As the attack had hit it, Mewtwo had felt a sinking cold feeling spread through its entire body.

"You're still alive," Latias remarked coolly.

The purple glow stopped and Latias' scales and eyes returned to normal, though some blood was still dripping out of her mouth.

"And that attack exerted you beyond your current condition," Mewtwo said, attempting to be nonchalant and hide the pain – it would take a while before it could recover and would definitely be knocked unconscious or worse if Latias attacked again. "That was Night Daze, wasn't it? How could you use it?"

Latias scowled. "How did you know?"

"My mind has imprints of every possible type of move a Pokémon has used, except for any new ones that have been created since my birth," Mewtwo explained. "That's how I suffered in the hands of the humans. I am an artificial Pokémon, cloned from my twin by a particularly power-hungry human. But it wasn't enough that they created another Mew – they wanted more strength, no matter the cost, and used me as a guinea pig for horrific experiments. Needless to say, it came with advantages, too."

"How did you escape you captors?" Latias asked, whispering in anticipation.

Mewtwo knew what Latias wanted to hear: "I killed them."

Latias' eyes widened and her expression changed to a twisted smile. Sadly, Mewtwo didn't even need to lie.

_One by one, the scientists in the room were engulfed by the explosions that Mewtwo created in cold fury, merely having to flick its hand in the desired direction._

_Eventually, only Fuji remained. Leaning on a piece of machinery, the bodies of his colleagues littered around him, he watched as all of his work slowly burned to cinder. And yet, he just looked on as Mewtwo approached him, blowing the flames away from it with another flick of its hand. Briefly, Fuji's and Mewtwo's eyes met._

_"We dreamed of creating the world strongest Pokémon…" Fuji grunted_

_Mewtwo started glowing again as it pointed its three-digit hand at Fuji. But Fuji merely stared forward with a faint smile on his face._

_"…and we succeeded!" _

"Our common benefactor helped me after I escaped, and it's my duty to help Them – and I'd say wiping a region off the map would do the trick," Mewtwo said. "But even I can't do it alone."

"You've made your point," Latias said in a raspy voice, spitting some of the excess blood off her mouth, "but I can't wait while we search around for whatever will help us destroy this place! I want to kill!"

"If we attack randomly, the humans will throw everything they have at us," Mewtwo explained calmly. "They may be weak, but they're an extraordinarily sneaky bunch. They use technology to blow apart everything in their way and use them as substitutes for our attacks. And even this region they have something called the Pokémon Association. They employ eight gym leaders, four members of the Elites and a Pokémon League Champion who all use powerful Pokémon to do their bidding. If they team up against us, chances are we might be able to kill a couple of dozen people at best before they take us down."

Latias glared at Mewtwo, who stared back relentlessly. When neither party was the first to blink or talk, Latias scoffed and looked away from Mewtwo.

"Are you taking the side of the humans now?" she asked. "Let me guess: there's a human who you connected with or something?"

_Blaine had pulled a chair next to a cylinder that was about ten feet tall and full of strange, orange liquid. Floating in the liquid was his latest creation. The creature had feline traits, but its feet resembled that of a rabbit's. It had a grayish purple complexion and an incredibly long, purple tail. For now, the creature was less than three feet tall and was suspended in a fetal position and its eyes were closed. It was surrounded by some sort of thin, blue bubble._

_Just like all the other clones in the facility, this one hadn't gained consciousness, even though its other vital signs were strong. And yet, Blaine sat by its side every day. While his job was to observe its heartbeat, brainwave activity and growth, he would also talk to it, teach it, attempt to communicate with it and even read to it. Currently, he was reading a book called _"The Myths and Legends of Pokémonology"_ to the creature out loud, praying for at least some signs of acknowledgment._

"Some manipulative coward who managed to convince a poor sap like you that humans aren't that bad after all?" Latias continued cruelly.

_"That, we believe, is called Mew. Maybe it's extinct now, we don't know. All we know is that _you _were created from it. Isn't that something? You're like… like its brother or sister or something… that's why we christened you 'Mewtwo'!"_

_Blaine walked to the tube and pressed his hand against it, but was talking to more to himself than to the creature._

_"But, you're not just Mew," he said quietly. "During the process, I used a bit of… a bit of myself." He showed the creature in the tube his right hand, which was fully covered by a purple glove. "In that respect… you're almost like…"_

_Blaine cleared his throat again, looking rather embarrassed. _

"There's no one," Mewtwo said. "And I know how we can fill both that blood lust that we share. We attack remote locations at random intervals, killing small amounts of people at a time – I know the layout to this region. Before anyone knows what's going on, we're on a different side of the region, looking for a new place to spread destruction in."

"As long as I get to see you kill a few as well," Latias snarled. "And I get the strongest ones! I want to make them suffer! Let's go, then!"

"Hold it!" Mewtwo said quickly, holding its hand up. "You're badly wounded, and even if you're stronger than me, you won't last long in your condition. We'll start tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," Latias groaned. "I've lost track of hours, days and months. I can't wait too long!"

"After this, there'll be no more waiting," Mewtwo promised. "You can be free!"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Petalburg City, Hoenn**_

_**The next morning**_

Kris and Iris had spent the night in the Petalburg Pokémon Center and were now ready to head off to Rustboro City, having spent the afternoon with a map of the Hoenn region, bickering about the best path to take. As they went to pick up their Pokémon and gathered their belongings, Iris spotted someone from the crowd and pointed him out to Kris. It was a tall man, and though he wore sunglasses, the spiky red hair and black cape were unmistakable. Somehow, though, no one else seemed to bat an eye at him.

"Hey!" Iris yelled at the man and waved. "Hey, Lance! It's us! Hi!"

Lance shushed her and gestured at the exit, prompting Kris and Iris to follow. Outside, Lance took off his shades and sighed.

"I assumed this would be enough disguise," he grumbled. "Only hardcore battling aficionados usually recognize Champions outside their home turf. What do you want?"

"Um, just to say hi," Iris said meekly, Lance being as grumpy as always. "And... now I did it. Hi!"

"Is this an autograph thing?" Lance asked flatly. "Or am I supposed to know you two from somewhere?"

"We..." Iris gulped. "We met back in Johto. I'm a dragon trainer as well."

"You know me, at least, right?" Kris wondered. "I don't just know you as the Champion, you're also a member of the Legendary Pokémon Soc-"

Lance shushed again and looked madly around him. Putting his shades back on, he led Kris and Iris behind the Pokémon Center, away from curious eyes.

"Okay, I think I remember," Lance told Kris. "You're that girl from New Bark Town."

Kris shrugged. "I'll take what I can get. It's Kris, and this is Iris. We met a few times while fighting the Masked Man. Um, what are you doing here?"

"Yeah, is it Society business?" Iris asked passionately, staring up at the Champion who was over a foot taller. "Is some legendary Pokémon causing trouble? Or are there bad guys around using Pokémon for nefarious ends? Or-"

Lance raised his hand to silence the two. "Yes, it's related to Society business. Let's just say my reason for being here is to visit some friends, but off the record... the International Police wanted someone to investigate Team Aqua. Does that ring any bells?"

Kris and Iris both shook their heads, though Iris looked like she really wanted to say something, but couldn't get her mouth open.

"Yes?" Lance asked harshly.

"Uh, I just," Iris stuttered, "I've heard of some criminals called Team _Magma _before, but..."

"That's understandable," Lance said. "Someone from Team Aqua might have infiltrated the local media, as Team Magma makes the headlines frequently but information on Team Aqua is scarce. Either way, they've been up to something recently and I'm here to see if it's something the local police force can't handle. The Legendary Pokémon Society isn't concerned yet, until they find a way to achieve their goal..."

"Which is?" Kris asked.

"They wanted to expand the world's oceans," Lance said.

"You've got to be kidding me," Kris deadpanned. "_Why_?!"

"They're nuts," Lance said plainly.

"So, what does Team Magma do, attempt to find some magical way to expand the world's landmass? And they spent most of their time fighting each other instead of doing anything to meet their goals?"

Kris laughed, but could read her answer from the expression on Lance and Iris' faces.

"Why does every region have some weirdo team?!" Kris lamented.

"Either way, weirder things have happened, and we take nutcases like this seriously even if the authorities don't," Lance said. "Watch yourselves, and take care. Excuse me."

With a dramatic swing of his cape, Lance walked away. Kris and Iris watched after him, seeing him open a Poké Ball and summon his Dragonite. Hopping on its back and letting the Dragonite propel itself into the air, Lance was soon just a dot in the distance.

"Well, that was some coincidence," Iris remarked and turned to Kris. "What now?"

"We keep moving and stay out of whatever weirdness fate has cooked up for us," Kris said. "Since those LPS snobs will never accept me into their ranks, we might as well try not to get involved. I don't need any more stalkers or murderers after me. But first!"

"First what?"

Kris guided Iris away from the back alley and a few blocks ahead from the Pokémon Center until the two arrived near the lakefront, where the Petalburg City Pokémon Gym stood tall. Kris made a dramatic gesture towards the gym, but Iris just tilted her head in confusion.

"Seriously, you were silent during that whole trip, first what?" Iris wondered.

"Gym, badge, battle?" Kris said impatiently, still waving her arms towards the gym. "I read a brochure about this city at the Pokémon Center, and this gym is their prized attraction-"

"Is it because it's their only attraction?" Iris asked.

"Yes," Kris admitted. "But seriously, I've heard of this city's gym leader before. He's called Norman Ruby and he's the strongest leader in this region. Rumor has it the Pokémon Association once considered firing him because he was far _too_ tough for the challengers. And he was originally from Johto!"

"...and?"

"_And_ if I beat the strongest gym leader in the region, I'll _finally_ get the respect I deserve as a professional Pokémon trainer!" Kris insisted. "Our mission can wait, but who knows if we'll ever be back here! C'mon!"

Iris tried to protest that they should try to get to Rustboro before nightfall, but Kris was already making her way towards the gym.

Inside, the Petalburg City Gym looked even larger than on the outside. It was essentially an enormous dōjō full of many smaller fighting rings categorized by different fighting styles, such as the Attack Room, Defense Room, Zero Reduction Room and so on. The gym guide led Kris and Iris to the second floor, where the gym leader himself held his battles. As a battle was in progress, the gym guide instructed them to wait their turn. Kris happily accepted and carefully observed the battle from the sidelines, wanting to take in every possible tactic Norman might have been using.

Norman was a tall man with short dark hair, his widow's peak being very prominent. Though middle-aged and seemingly lean, he was clearly rugged underneath his tight, red sweatshirt. He had an imposing presence and he commanded a white, ferocious-looking Pokémon with long arms and extremely long and sharp claws expertly.

He was currently engaged in battle against a girl around Kris' age with brown hair and blue eyes, who was just as invested into the battle, but her style was different from Norman's. Though she was capable, Kris could see that the girl lost her patience easily whenever her tiny, orange, bird-like Pokémon missed its attack or Norman's Pokémon landed a hit on it, which made her start yelling at her Pokémon. Despite its small size and clear lack of experience, the orange bird fought bravely, attempting to hit Norman's Pokémon with fire attacks. Still, that wasn't enough, and it was eventually knocked out when it was too exhausted to dodge a swipe from Norman's Pokémon.

Watching the battle made Kris seriously doubt herself. In three months, she hadn't taken on any opponent comparable to Norman, and even in the Silver Conference, she mostly got as far as she did thanks to being lucky and fighting mostly amateurs... only to end up losing to one. Norman didn't even seem to break a sweat with the girl, but nonetheless, Kris took the opportunity to quickly scan both of the Pokémon in the field.

"_Vigoroth, the Wild Monkey Pokémon and evolved form of Slakoth_," Kris' PokéDex informed of Norman's Pokémon just before Norman withdrew it. "_Easily stressed and agitated if it doesn't constantly engage in battle or destroy things, it has a very fast metabolism. It is said only a particularly competent trainer can keep a Vigoroth calm_."

_Even the PokéDex shills him_, Kris thought and scanned the girl's Pokémon which she was tending to, hugging it and apologizing to it.

"_Torchic, the Chick Pokémon. It can spit flames with a temperature up to one thousand degrees Celsius. As it generates the flames using a special organ in its stomach, it is said that Torchic is, quote 'extremely huggable', like a warm water bottle_."

"Aww," Iris squeed.

"_The sappy way meatbag humans continue to treat other lifeforms is a constant source of disgust for this unit_."

"Aww," Iris lamented.

"No one asked you opinion," Kris snapped at the PokéDex and put it back in her bag. "I swear, I should send it back to New Bark Town for repairs – maybe someone will remove its sass circuit."

"Thanks for battling with me, Mr. Ruby," the girl told the gym leader, holding the weakened Torchic in her arms. "I really thought I stood a chance."

"Norman, please," Norman said, his voice oddly cold, his arms crossed over his chest. "And thank you, May, for helping that Wally kid catch himself a Pokémon."

"Oh, it was no problem, I was kinda surprised he could actually throw a Poké Ball at that Ralts," May replied, her tone still almost reverent as she spoke with Norman. "But he's an old school friend of both me and Brendan, so it was all good."

"Hmph," Norman simply said. "His parents seem to be intent on sending him to Vendaturf Town to heal up. Maybe the mountain air will do him good, but him lounging around the corners of his relatives' house isn't going to do any good. They should have sent him to train under me – I'd have made a man out of him."

"Um, sure," May said awkwardly. "But, uh, anyway, I think I'm off to Rustboro City next, so-"

"Just one more thing," Norman said, and May seemed compelled to stay, though reluctantly. "The way you fought was more than I expected from a beginner, but you made some grievous mistakes. You didn't control your temper, you let a Pokémon straight out of its ball lose without doing any damage to my Vigoroth, risking getting it badly hurt. And you severely overestimated your abilities."

"I'm sorry," May said quickly, "I'll promise to pay more attention to it later!"

"Whatever," Norman shrugged. "It was still better than what Brendan would have done. Speaking of which... I thought I told him to come here as soon as he got his Pokémon."

May gulped.

"You're sure you don't know where he is?" Norman inquired, his tone even but his expression cold, relentlessly staring straight into May's eyes.

May just shook her head. "Sorry, we ended up separated in Oldale Town," she said nervously. "I'm sure he'll be back soon, though."

"And what will you be doing?" Norman asked.

"I hear the former champion Steven Stone might be in Rustboro City right now," May said briskly. "If I'm quick, maybe I can get a few pointers from him."

Kris narrowed her eyes. Hearing that name just gave her an idea.

"Kris," Iris muttered under her breath.

"Yeah, I know," Kris replied. "Just let me do the talking."

"Really? Well, if you insist..."

Kris wasn't sure what Iris was supposed to mean by that, but ignored the comment. May seemed all too happy to exit the ring, and once she did so, Kris immediately approached her.

"Hi!" Kris told May cheerfully.

May's instant reaction was to flinch and turn to glare at the arrivals, ready to leap at them like a predator.

"Uh, easy there," Kris said and raised her arms. "I'm just a Pokémon Trainer like you and I was watching your battle."

May relaxed a bit, though still seemed a bit tense as she shook hands with both Kris and Iris.

"I'm Kris, this is Iris," Kris said quickly, a bit confused as to why May was still warily observing the duo from a distance after the handshake. "That was some nice battling, by the way. I overheard you talking, and we're heading to Rustboro City as well."

Iris frowned. "Weren't you supposed to-"

"Anyway," Kris continued over Iris, "we could use a guide, and you seem like a powerful trainer and probably know your way around here. What do you say?"

May flicked her hair back and put one hand on her hip, smirking at the two.

"How do I know you guys aren't just gonna be dead weight to me?" she asked mischievously.

Kris smiled. May clearly enjoyed the praise, but was smart enough to ask what she was going to get out of it. Together, Kris and Iris opened their badge cases and showed their collections to May, who cocked her eyebrows at them. Kris' case had five badges, four from Johto and one from the Kanto gym leader Janine who had surrendered it after Kris beat her in the Silver Conference – and exposed her mercenary work or Team Rocket. Iris had six badges, all from Unova.

"Oh, wow, sorry I doubted you guys," May said, especially interested in Iris' badges. "But then, you're not from 'round here, huh? You tourists?"

"Ehh, sort of," Iris said with a shrug. "I'm from Unova, she's from Johto, where we met."

"Unova?!" May exclaimed curiously and whistled. "I hear there's some damn strong trainers there, like those two brothers who challenge people in the subway. What are you doin' all the way out here, we're practically the Poké-boonies compared to you guys."

Iris laughed, but waved her hand modestly. "We're not _that_ great, really. And I'm actually studying to become a gym leader."

"Excuse me," Kris said in frustration when May was directing all of her attention to Iris, "I was the one who was gonna-"

"A gym leader - like Norman?!" May gasped. "Wow! That's so cool! I've always wanted to know what it was like to be one! Where do you-"

Kris cleared her throat loudly, prompting May to look at her, though with nowhere near the same amount of interest as with Iris.

"Thank you," Kris said sarcastically. "Now, back to my point, whaddya say?"

May pondered the question, rubbing her chin with her gloved hand – she was wearing black fingerless gloves, Kris noting she had a similar one in her right hand, the glove being the only remnants of the mysterious Pokémon trainer Red.

"I dunno," May said teasingly, her smile betraying her. "I'm kinda strapped for time here... I have to get all eight badges in 79 days."

"That's kind of arbitrary," Iris pointed out.

May seemed flustered. "Well, it's just... this kind of bet I had with... uh, forget it, just that the Hoenn League will be held soon after that, and I have to prepare. So all right – I'll be a guide for you guys, on one condition."

"Here we go," Kris groaned.

"You guys, especially you," May pointed at Iris, "have to be my mentors. Teach me how you got all those badges. I mean, you don't look like much. Especially you," May added, pointing at Kris.

Kris tried her best to ignore that last comment. "Fine, but only if you call me Kris-senpai whenever you talk to me."

"Uh, no I won't."

Kris sighed. "Fine, we'll do it anyway. You OK with this, Iris?"

"Sure, new friends are always nice!" Iris cheered. "Say, May, you seemed to know the gym leader of this place personally."

May nodded proudly. "He's actually my... _friend's_ father."

"He has a son?" Kris exclaimed in surprise. "One around your age?" May nodded. "Wow! You have to introduce us! The son of Norman Ruby would probably help me out a lot! I bet he's as badass as his dad!"

May looked bothered. "Um, sure, depends on how you look at it. Anyway, you want to go or not?"

"We're trusting you to get us there fast," Kris said. "Don't let us down."

"Oh, please," May smirked. "I know the route from here to Rustboro like the back of my hands!"

**~o~O~o¨**

_**Location: Petalburg Woods, Hoenn**_

_**One hour and eight minutes later**_

"Y'know, I don't actually look at the backs of my hands all that often..."

"You've got to be kidding me."

Kris, Iris and May were lost somewhere in the depths of the Petalburg Woods. It was a thick forest abundant with wild Pokémon, causing Iris to almost lose her control over getting to observe all of their behavior, spotting bug- and grass-types she had never seen before. Though it was still light out, the cloudy weather and the shadows cast by the tall, thick trees left little daylight a chance to pour through – worse yet, the trio had diverged off the main path because May 'knew a shortcut', and were now lost in an endless stream of darkness, grass and trees, wild Pokémon frequently rustling and flying to safety as they saw humans approach.

"You said this was the fastest route!" Kris snapped at May while Iris was running around trying to catch a bug Pokémon that burrowed itself underground when it saw her approaching.

"It is!" May insisted as she gazed around restlessly. "Really, it's your fault for disrupting my fantastic sense of directions with your presence!

"Well," Kris said, "what are we going to-"

May didn't stick around to listen, but instead cracked her knuckles and ran towards one of the trees. Launching herself into the air, she grabbed the trunk of the tree and quickly scrambled up on a branch like a Mankey.

"I think I can see the right path from here," May yelled from the tree. "I'm going to go ahead and check it out – just stay here, I'll be right back!"

Kris didn't have time to argue, as May jumped expertly into a different tree, then grabbed a vine to swing herself into another one, continuing this until Kris couldn't see or hear her anymore.

"Glad it's her up in the trees and not me," Kris remarked. "Right, Iris?"

Kris turned to look, but Iris was nowhere to be seen. Muttering a few quiet swear words under her breath, Kris was forced to waltz deeper into the forest looking for her, calling out her name as she went. Wild Pokémon scrambled frantically away as she walked through the woods, grass rustling on all sides.

"Iris!" Kris yelled. "Damn it, where is she?"

Suddenly, someone jumped off a tree branch, landing in front of Kris, who was on the verge of tossing out one of her Poké Balls before she recognized it as Iris, who smiled cheerfully at her.

"Sorry about that," she said with a shrug. "But there's so much wildlife in he-"

"_HEEEEEEEELP!_"

Kris and Iris fell silent. They heard more frantic rustling, only from something far heavier than most of the Pokémon they had seen. Soon enough, a paunchy, middle-aged man frantically hugging a briefcase ran at Kris and Iris, screaming pathetically all the while. Noticing Kris and Iris, he scrambled behind them, pathetically trying to cower behind Kris.

"What are you doing?!" Kris snapped and tried to shake the guy off.

"You have to help me!" the man cried. "I'm an employee of Devon – I was supposed to bring these goods to my boss from Petalburg, but got ambushed by... by..."

"By who?" Kris wondered. "And stop hiding behind me, you coward!"

"By her!" the Devon employee shrieked, pulling Iris closer to Kris so he was hidden completely.

Soon enough, another person calmly followed the Devon employee's path. She was a tall, fierce-looking woman with long, red, curly hair. She wore blue clothes that almost resembled a uniform, along with a blue bandanna with a Jolly Roger -like symbol imprinted on it. Accompanying her were two Pokémon, one a red, crustacean Pokémon with a yellow star sticking out of the front of its face, while the other one was a blue, round Pokémon with flippers and thick, white whiskers.

"Don't bother taking your dex out," Iris muttered. "The red one is a Crawdaunt, types Water and Dark. The blue one is a Sealeo, types Ice and Water."

"A Water expert, huh," Kris mumbled back before raising her voice at the arrival. "Who are you?!"

"They know me by many names, lasses," the woman said in a thick accent and crossed her arms smugly as she stopped just a few yards away from Kris, Iris and the shivering Devon employee. "As a matter o' fact, I forget the real one m'self sometimes. Some call me Angie, others say I should go by Izumi, while today, I feel like I should be called... Shelly. Why don't you two pipsqueaks let go of that poor sod behind yous and we'll forget you crossed the paths of the mighty Team Aqua!"

Kris and Iris tensed up, both of them inching their hands towards their Poké Balls.

"You're one of those eco-guys, then?" Kris asked Shelly. "Seriously, I've been meaning to ask you about that – the hell is up with your plan? I mean, expanding the oceans, really? Just wait a few years and let pollution do that for you!"

"You calling us barmy, ya silly clunge?!" Shelly snapped and suddenly pointed at Kris with a sharp spear. "If you're taking the piss out of us, the it looks like you daft little munters need to be taught a lesson!"

"What on earth is she talking about?" Iris wondered. "Kris, is it really smart to provoke the lunatic?"

"Lance warned us about them," Kris reminded, "I hoped we wouldn't have to cross path with them, but since they _insist_ on dogging me... you, Shelly! If you wanted me, you should have just told me."

"Eh?" Shelly said in confusion. "Am I supposed to know you, mate? Just here for the tosser behind you and his goods!"

"You can't let her take them!" the Devon employee whimpered. "They're valuable!"

"So... you don't know who I am?" Kris asked.

"Pretty obvious, innit?"

"Well, that's a relief," Iris sighed, "right, Kri-"

But Kris had buried her face in her hands and collapsed on her knees.

"All that training for the Silver Conference, all those hardships to become a professional trainer," she lamented melodramatically, "all for nothing, was it?"

"She's off her trolley," Shelly said as she stared down at Kris. "Oi, is she gonna be okay?" she asked Iris.

"She'll be fine," Iris assured, "she just occasionally has to be reminded that-"

"_Croc, go_!"

Shelly having let her guard down, she had to back off as Kris summoned her Feraligatr and quickly scrambled away from Shelly's reach. Quickly enough, Shelly's Crawdaunt and Sealeo stepped in front of their trainer while Shelly assumed a fighting stance. Iris took advantage of the situation and sent out her own Pokémon – Sliggoo, a slimy, purple dragon-type.

"You up for an arsewrassle then, lasses?" Shelly smirked. "Bloody hell, I've done sweet F. A. today couldn't be arsed to wail on you, but if that's what you want, then you've got it!"

"Use Fraxure instead!" Kris complained at Iris. "Seriously, what part of 'weakest dragon' don't you get?"

"Don't insult her!" Iris snapped. "I managed to make her evolve, didn't I?"

"Yeah, and you did bugger all with her since then – oh no, now I'm catching it. Croc, Superpower!"

Enveloped in a pale blue aura, Croc roared and snapped its jaws before ramming towards Crawdaunt and Sealeo with all its might. Unfortunately, it was too slow, and Shelly had time to tell Crawdaunt to use Protect, erecting an invisible barrier in front of the two Pokémon. When Croc staggered in a daze caused by the sheer force of its own attack, Sealeo took the opportunity to use Body Slam, tackling the Feraligatr with all its weight, almost crushing it in the process. Croc tried its all to push Sealeo away, but the bulky Ball Roll Pokémon kept it pinned down.

"Don't worry, I'll help!" Iris promised. "Sliggoo, Dragon Pulse!"

"Ice Beam!" Shelly commanded. "And you, Night Slash!"

Sealeo's Ice Beam blocked the Dragon Pulse handily, allowing Crawdaunt to advance and strike Sliggoo with its pincers, bringing the dragon-type down easily. Iris returned the Pokémon, but Shelly didn't give them time to call out any new ones. She quickly charged at Kris and whacked her with the blunt end of her spear, dazing her and allowing Shelly to toss her on the ground roughly. Putting one foot on her back, Shelly kept the sharp end of the spear on her neck.

Ass Iris tried to send out another Pokémon to help Kris, her arms were grabbed by Crawdaunt's pincers and twisted behind her back. Iris tried struggling against it, but Crawdaunt tightened its grip and almost burrowed under Iris' skin.

"'Less you fancy the sound of your bones breaking, I wouldn't try anything, little tyke," Shelly said and glared at the Devon employee, who was standing on the background, legs shaking and face contorted with fear. "Oi, you gormless twat!" she yelled at him. "Give us the goods unless you've got the bollocks to watch these two join the choir invisible!"

"I..." the Devon employee stuttered, too afraid to even try running away. "Um... you two! Would you be interested in making a great sacrifice in the name of the Devon Corporation?"

"No!" Kris protested. "Just give her the stupid briefcase!"

"It's not stupid!" the Devon employee cried pathetically and looked at Iris for support, ignoring her situation. "My case is not stupid, is it?"

"No, it's very beautiful," Iris grunted and tried to carefully wiggle out of Crawdaunt's grip, but cringed as the Pokémon just tightened it. "But could you still give it to her, because we're running low on options!

"That's right, you soppy little knob!" Shelly said. "I've got the upper hand here, so unless you – wait, what the bleedin' hell is that sound?"

Shelly stopped to listen, and soon the others heard it too. Something was rustling through leaves and jumping from tree to tree, but it was too dark to see who or what it was. They also heard something resembling a battle cry which was initially distant, but got stronger as it approached them, almost sounding like-

"...aaaaaaaaquaAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Swinging from vines, May charged towards Shelly, who tried to lift her spear at her. However, May snatched it away from her with her legs and kicked it against a tree, snapping it in half.

"Oh, this dodgy plonker!" Shelly cursed before May kicked her square in the torso and knocked her to the ground. "Arse!"

May landed, holding a small yellow Pokémon under her arm – the Pokémon's expression made it look like it was constantly pissed off. As Crawdaunt and Sealeo let go of their targets and approached May, she lifted the Pokémon over her head.

"Shroomish, Stun Spore!" May yelled.

Crawdaunt and Sealeo were too slow to dodge the ensuing mist of orange powder that rendered them immobile the moment they inhaled it. Seeing this forced Shelly to return her Pokémon, her cocky expression changing to fear when she saw Kris and Iris get back on their feet, Croc doing the same and growling at Shelly, licking its lips and looking particularly eager to attack.

"Just wait, you bastards!" Shelly yelled. "Team Aqua will... oh, sod it, I ain't got a good boast for this!"

And with that, Shelly fled into the deeper, darkest parts of the forest, quickly disappearing into the shadows. May walked over to the broken piece of spear, humming approvingly as she put it in her bag, apparently as a battle trophy or something.

"Hey, mister, you okay?" she asked the Devon employee.

He responded with fearful nodding and dried his eyes on his sleeve. May rolled her eyes.

"How about you, girls?"

"Fine," Kris grumbled as she recalled Croc – today's humiliation wasn't anything particularly new, but it had been a while since the last one. "Say, May, when did you start your Pokémon journey again?"

"Uh... yesterday," May said. "But I've been doing fieldwork with my pops since who knows when."

Kris collapsed again, and Iris merely offered a quick, comforting pat on her shoulder before turning to look at the Shroomish May was holding.

"Where'd you get that?" Iris asked.

"Oh, while I was lookin' for the right path, I noticed a lot of Pokémon were running away from somethin' and figured you were in trouble," May said cheerfully and patted the Shroomish on the head – it continued to look pissed off. "This little buddy was the only one who didn't run away and actually approached me for something. I asked it if it wanted to be in my team and chucked a Poké Ball at it – the ball didn't even shake once. Thanks for the help, Shroomish!" she said and withdrew the Pokémon.

"At least that Team Aqua chick didn't get our names," Kris pondered. "So maybe we can still get on with this trip without getting involved with them..."

"But I look forward to clobbering some if I meet them again!" May said excitedly. "There might be a lot of them around this area – my dad called Norman yesterday and asked him to warn me about them-"

"Thank you!" the Devon employee suddenly cried out, finally realizing he was safe, apparently. "You have saved one of our company's most prized belongings... and the briefcase!"

"Well," Kris said modestly, "it was noth-"

But the Devon employee rushed straight at May and shook her hands enthusiastically, May looking confused but returning the gesture. When it became clear May's grip hurt the Devon employee's hand, he quickly pulled his hand away.

"You must come with me to our office!" the Devon employee announced. "The president will want to thank you in person!"

"Nah, it's all right," May said. "Just happy to help."

"I insist!" the Devon employee shouted. "Mr. Stone will no doubt reward you for your bravery!"

Iris nudged Kris with her elbow.

"Stone," she muttered.

Kris was confused. "Um... rock?"

Iris sighed. "Stone, as in related to Steven Stone," she said. "Who do you think that guy's father is?"

"Oh, yeah!" Kris said with a snap of her fingers and turned to look at the Devon employee. "Mister, May will be delighted to come, and we as her close friends will follow suit!"

"Say what? May snapped.

"Excellent!" the Devon employee said, rubbing his hands together creepily. "Onwards, then!"

**~o~O~o¨**

_**Location: Devon Corporation HQ, Rustboro City, Hoenn**_

_**Half an hour later**_

Kris, Iris and a reluctant May who wanted to get to the gym first were currently in an elevator heading to the topmost floor of the enormous skyscraper Devon's offices were located in. Kris had thought the Goldenrod Radio Tower and the Bell Tower were tall, but this building was something she only though existed in the movies, the behemoth of a building leaving everything else in the city looking insignificant.

The elevator allowed a panoramic view of everything happening below and offered a glimpse outside the windows, the people below getting tinier every second the elevator ascended. As the elevator whirred on, the Devon employee gave the trio a lecture about Devon. Apparently it was initially just a small company making its profits by licensing Silph's products and selling them in Hoenn before eventually starting to make spin-offs and their own products, which the employee explained enthusiastically as the elevator passed the numerous R&D labs.

Some of the products were mundane, like medicine for people and Pokémon, different types of Poké Balls and footwear meant specifically for Pokémon trainers that allowed them to run faster and make leaps that were not ordinarily possible, similar to the ones May was wearing at the moment. Then there were concepts of more ridiculous devices, like machines that could allow people to talk to Pokémon and a projector that visualized Pokémon dreams. The first one was apparently not just a pipe dream, though, as the laboratory at Navel Rock had completed a working prototype of a Pokémon translator, but it had been destroyed with the lab during the Team Rocket incident.

The president, Mr. Stone, was in the thirtieth floor in a gigantic office that covered almost the entire floor. The office seemed to double as a conference room, with Mr. Stone's desk at the very end of it behind a large window. Mr. Stone himself was a short, stocky man with silver-colored hair wearing a blue, pinstriped suit. The Devon employee, having apparently called ahead, introduced the trio to him and went to standing behind him sycophantically.

"Welcome to Devon!" Mr. Stone said jovially, though he didn't bother to get up from behind his desk. "Thank you for saving one of our most precious resources... and this Guy right here," he added with a nod in the Devon employee's direction. "Now, I'm known throughout the land as an exceptionally generous person – isn't that right, Guy?"

"My name isn't Guy, sir," the Devon employee said sleazily, "but yes, sir, you are very generous. Which reminds me, I haven't had a raise in, well, ever, so-"

"I'm sorry, Guy, but at this moment, all I heard from your mouth after you answered my question was unnecessary rambling," Stone interrupted. "Go back to doing whatever it is that you do, mhmyes."

"Very well, sir," the Devon employee said and turned to leave.

"Where do you think you're going, champ?" Stone asked him suddenly.

"To do whatever it is that I-"

"Which will be standing behind me today, I need someone to pin post-it notes to when the time comes," Stone said harshly, and the Devon employee shrugged and went back to standing behind his boss. Stone turned back to talk to May. "Now, like I said, I'm a generous man, and you earned a reward. Guy, give her a PokéNav."

The Devon employee pulled a device from one of Mr. Stone's drawers that looked like a clamshell mobile phone and handed it to May, who enthusiastically flipped it open and started to fiddle with it.

"The PokéNav comes with many features," the Devon employee listed off monotonously. "Aside from a phone, a map and a GPS, the PokéNav has also been upgraded with another product of ours, the Vs. Seeker, which allows you to pinpoint trainers who wish to battle and register trainer information to it, as well as an app that can keep track of a Pokémon's emotional condition, one of our newest and most highly regarded inventions."

"It was my idea originally, wasn't it, Guy?" Stone said, and rambled off without waiting for an answer. "I just had another masterstroke of an idea why you were out dillydallying, Guy! I've been looking at that wretched slum from my window and concluded that no one will miss it – and I want a skyscraper, a modern, thirty-story skyscraper that will tower above everything else in this filthy city! So get that place demolished!"

"We already have a skyscraper, sir," the Devon employee said in exhaustion. "We're in it."

"How much would it cost to move it and crush the slums with it, then?" Stone asked. "Mmhah, who am I kidding, I could easily afford it!"

"Well, thanks, Mr. Stone," May said and put the PokéNav in her bag.

"Don't we get a PokéNav?" Kris wondered.

"Were you the one who fought off that Aqua member?" Stone asked.

"Uh, not _exactly_, but-"

"Well, then, it looks like you'll have to go without, then, mhmyes," Stone chuckled. "Now, then, how else do you want to waste my time?"

"Mr. Stone," Kris said, "we-"

"What?"

"We need to-"

"Yes?"

"Stop interrupting me!" Kris snapped. "We want to-"

"If that's all you needed, then buzz off," Stone said. "Guy, take these three to the president right away!"

"Sir, you are the president."

"That's right, and I have the authority to tell you take these three to him!"

"Mr. Stone, I'd like to ask about your son, Steven," May said quickly. "I'd like to meet him."

"Oh, good old Stevie boy," Stone scoffed. "He's probably dawdling about instead of doing anything productive – you know he was the Champion until not too long ago, but that layabout couldn't even keep that up. I promised him a job high-up in my company's ranks, but he refused! And he even believes that the poor _aren't_ just a waste of space and a resource to be used for the generator in my tanning salon!"

"What?" Kris asked.

"What?" Stone countered.

"I-"

"Yes, what?" Stone interrupted. "Anyway, he's not here, but in Dewford Town, most likely looking for rocks to add to his collection. A fine hobby, except he doesn't sell them like I do! It's like money isn't the most important thing to him! Anyway, if you do see him..."

Stone reached for something in his drawer. Kris, Iris and May flinched when he pulled out a revolver, but he just put it on his desk and kept rummaging through the drawer until he finally found what he was looking for – a letter that he gave to May.

"...please deliver this letter to him," Stone continued. "Speaking of going to places, Guy, why are you still here? Those goods you're carrying need to get to Slateport City!"

"About that, sir," the Devon employee said. "The Rusturf Tunnel hasn't been finished yet. People are protesting that the drilling disturbs local Pokémon."

"Protestors?" Stone scoffed. "Didn't you order that armored snowplow to clear them off?"

"Sir, you can't plow humans away just like that," the Devon employee said. "You need a permit that takes a month to process."

"Damnation!" Stone yelled and slammed his fist on the table. "I should get what I want! I'm the president, after all!"

"President of this company, sir."

"Whichever. You three!" Stone suddenly yelled at the trio. "If you're going to Dewford Town, it won't be too much trouble to go to Slateport City afterward. Please take these goods to Captain Stern – he should be working at his shipyard."

The Devon employee planted his briefcase on the desk in front of Stone.

"Now hang on, I just need to write a note to Stern and attach it to the case," he muttered, took out a sheet of paper and aimed his revolver at it.

"Sir, that's not a pen!" the Devon employee exclaimed and pulled the gun away from his boss. "And I already did that for you, there's a note inside the case!"

"Not a pen?" Stone said in confusion, then slapped his forehead and laughed. "Oh, darn, it happened again! Good job, Guy. You three, take the case and please leave, mhmyes!"

May put the letter addressed to Steven in her bag and grabbed the briefcase off the table. All too glad to get out, she, Kris and Iris quickly left the office, only stopping to catch their breath once they were in the elevator heading back to the ground floor.

"Well, that was a thing," Kris remarked. "But it looks like we finally have our lead! Nice thinking, May!"

"What lead?" May wondered. "Do you guys want to meet him too?"

"It's a long story," Iris said, but then stopped to ponder and looked up at Kris. "Um, maybe we should tell her, actually. She might have just saved our lives back there."

"I could have gotten out of that," Kris muttered. "But you're right. We'll tell you the full story on the way!" Kris promised May. "Now let's head back to Petalburg, there's a guy called Briney who can get us to Dewford Town!"

"We can't go right away!" May protested. "I still don't have a single gym badge. I couldn't take on Norman, but I have a feeling the local gym leader Roxanne will go down much more easily! She's apparently some pasty little bookworm!"

"It's not like we're in _that_ much of a hurry," Iris shrugged. "I want a gym badge, too! I haven't even competed in an real tournament yet! And if she's really a bookworm, she sounds neat!"

"Eh, we might as well all give it a shot," Kris said. "What's the worse that could happen?"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Rustboro City Gym, Hoenn**_

_**Half an hour later**_

"The written test will begin now!" announced Roxanne, the young, dark-haired gym leader of Rustboro City. "Only those who pass are eligible to challenge me!"

For unknown reasons, the Rustboro City Gym had been modeled to resemble a lecture hall, the actual battlefield being in a room at the back. There were about a dozen challengers in the gym at the moment, though one of them, a fellow wearing a dusty blue coat, was snoozing with his legs on the table and a book covering his face. Iris had jumped at the chance of getting to take a multiple choice test, while Kris had been just frustrated. But May was in an even worse situation, nervously biting her pencil and sweating at the sight of the questions. Only a few minutes passed before Iris cheerfully got up from his chair, gave a thumbs up to Kris and May and headed over to give her paper to Roxanne. The gym leader quickly went over the paper, nodded and guided Iris to the back room.

On the way to the gym, May had warned Kris and Iris that the gym leaders of Hoenn had their eccentricities. Considering how Clair of Blackthorn City was like, Kris didn't believe they could be _that_ bad, but what with Norman's attitude and Roxanne's bizarre approach to being a gym leader, Kris started to think that May had a point. Iris had easily bonded with Roxanne, though, as Roxanne had been more than glad to tell everyone in the room that she had graduated with the highest possible marks from the local Trainer's School and was now a student in Rustboro University, her knowledge of Pokémon battle strategies and biology making her an obvious choice for the gym leader's post.

Still, though she was nervous, Kris was glad she wasn't in May's shoes. Taking a deep breath, Kris started filling out circles randomly, confident that even if she would fail, the Hoenn League was still two months away, giving her plenty of time to get the remaining three badges.

**~o~O~o~**

Meanwhile, in a cave far out in the ocean, somewhere near Sootopolis City, Team Aqua Grunts were stacking Pokémon cages on top of each other, all containing mostly fire-type Pokémon like Numel and Vulpix along with plenty of Poochyena. After their boss Matt had given them a heartfelt lecture on why it was wrong when Team Magma did it, but it was okay for them to steal Pokémon they could potentially use and beat them with electric prods if they got out of hand, the Aquas took a break to eat lunch and entertain each other with stories about how they stole these Pokémon from their trainers.

This was all interrupted by the sudden arrival of Latias, whose near-instantaneous psychic shock waves knocked the Aquas around and blew parts of the cave apart. Those who survived Latias' first Mist Ball attacked quickly fled into a different part of the cave, escaping through a narrow space they were confident Latias couldn't reach them in.

However, this only led them directly on the path of another Pokémon: Mewtwo. For a few seconds, Mewtwo just calmly observed the Aquas, its hand raised and pointing at them, a blue glow emanating from it.

_Arceus forgive me_, Mewtwo thought as it flicked its hand, the ensuing explosion engulfing the Aquas.


	3. Eighty Day Challenge: Brendan

**Chapter Three: _Eighty Day Challenge: __Brendan_**

_**Location: Verdanturf Town Contest Hall, Hoenn**_

Verdanturf Town was the first destination Brendan headed to. After capturing some Pokémon and teaching them the essentials of good appeals, how to wear their accessories correctly and how to keep their furs smooth and shiny. Though registering for the Normal Rank Contest and getting his first ever Hoenn Contest Pass had made Brendan a little nervous, he still remembered everything he had learned during his time spent competing in Junior Rank Contests in Johto.

And the way the sheer beauty of his Pokémon had bedazzled and clobbered everyone else in those Contests – and those were just ones he had borrowed from his parents.

The process would repeat itself in Verdanturf, earning Brendan a Cool ribbon.

"Behold the sparkling coolness of my Electrike!" Brendan announced to the audience. "Electrike, Thunder Wave!"

Electrike's (who wore sunglasses as an accessory) appeal didn't hit any of the other Pokémon in the Contest. Instead, the thin stream of electricity was released in the air, where it turned into a shape of a spiral before exploding on itself, sending multicolored sparks flying in every direction, earning plenty of applause from the audience.

But the Cool ribbon wasn't enough, as Brendan's Skitty had to get a ribbon too, Brendan entering it in the Normal Rank Cute Contest.

"Gaze upon the heart-melting cuteness of my Skitty!" Brendan announced once again. "Skitty, Attract!"

Skitty, decorated with a red ribbon, released a cloud of pink, floating hearts from its body. The hearts started spinning around Skitty, surrounding the tiny Kitten Pokémon with a ring formed from them. The ring changed shapes into a square, a triangle and a spiral before the hearts eventually popped, showering pink sparkles everywhere.

The crowd went wild, as did the judges, the other contestants being no match for Brendan's fabulous moves. But the best thing happened when Brendan was about to leave the stage after bowing at the audience multiple times. A tall, blue-haired man wearing a white cloak approached him, Brendan recognizing him immediately.

"Young Brendan Ruby," Wallace said as he crouched and bowed at Brendan, "it would be an honor if you'd let me train you in the art of Pokémon Coordination."

"M-master," Brendan stuttered, clasping his hands together, his eyes sparkling with delight. "I accept right away!"

"_Did that actually happen_?"

Brendan had told the story to Wally, sitting in the living room at Wally's aunt and uncle's house. Since it was afternoon on a weekday, Wally's uncle, aunt and cousin were all at work. Wally had listened patiently to Brendan's narration of his Contest victories while Brendan was sewing an appropriate outfit for his Mudkip, wearing his thick-framed working glasses.

"Yeah, I guess I kind of trailed off," Brendan admitted cheerfully while sewing. "So maybe I didn't meet Wallace or even see him, but my instincts tell me that he was there, watching, looking out for promising Coordinators."

"How could he have the time for that?" Wally wondered out loud. "I mean, he's the Top Coordinator, the Pokémon Champion, a published artist..."

"He'll _make _the time!" Brendan snapped, accidentally pricking his finger with a needle. "Damn it!"

Knowing he'd never get the blood off the fabric, Brendan used his other hand to quickly dive into his bag and pull out a band-aid, which he was quick to apply on the wound.

"But I did get two ribbons!" Brendan proclaimed, gesturing at Electrike and Skitty, who were sleeping close to each other in the corner, both wearing their brand new Normal Rank Ribbons. "And once this awesome outfit is done, I'll enter Mudkip in the tough contest."

"Tough...?" Wally mused and glanced at Brendan's Mudkip, who sat on the kitchen table and gazed vacantly out of the window. "So, why are you getting so many?" Wally asked, turning to Brendan again. "I mean, um, not that I don't _enjoy_ you staying here with me, but... I thought you only need four ribbons of every rank from the same category to get into the Grand Festival."

"Right," Brendan nodded and took off his glasses, putting them carefully back into their case. "But unlike those ruffian gyms, who you can challenge over and over, Contests are held on specified dates and times. If I only pursue, say, Beauty contests, but lose the Hyper Rank one, I'd have to wait who knows how long for the next one. Normally, I wouldn't care, but... I'm on a deadline."

"Ohhh," Wally said in realization, nodding furiously. "You had some kind of bet with May?"

The stoic expression on Brendan's face was all the answer Wally needed.

"That reminds me," Wally continued, "I met her back in Petalburg. She was the one who helped me capture Ralts!"

Wally's Ralts was munching on an apple at Wally's kitchen table after having played with Brendan's Mudkip. Wally looked at his first Pokémon with warmth, while Brendan tried his best to ignore the comments about May.

"That so," Brendan remarked.

"Yeah... speaking of which, when are you two going to get hitched?"

"_Mind your own_ – I mean, what in the world are you talking about? Oh, but look at the time, I've gotta get back to the Contest Hall. Time to show these rubes what I'm made of!"

"You shouldn't talk about us like that," Wally said meekly, his words falling on deaf ears when Brendan focused on rounding up his Pokémon, demonstrating the outfit he just finished to Mudkip. "Don't you love the clean mountain air and the quiet atmosphere in this town?"

Brendan scoffed. "This place is dusty and boring," he complained. "I'm from Goldenrod City, and _that _place is the gold standard all other towns should be compared to! Get some tea ready for me, Wally – this won't even take long."

Brendan happily skipped out of the house with his Pokémon proudly in tow, all of them showing off their accessories and newly won ribbons. Reaching the Contest Hall, Brendan marched to the reception desk full of confidence, only to be slightly deflated by someone having made to the desk first.

Brendan was about to yell at the girl with pigtails in front of her to move, but his eyes sparkled with delight once more and his annoyed face turned to a wide smile when he recognized her. Even though it had been many years, no other person would wear that silly combo of a red shirt, blue overalls and a puffy, white hat with a red ribbon on it.

"LYRA!" Brendan shouted, prompting the girl in question to turn around, only to see Brendan tackle and hug her dramatically – even though Lyra herself was short, Brendan was only up to her chin. "You came all the way from Johto to see me!"

"Brendan?!" Lyra exclaimed in shock and didn't return the hug, just looked down at the beaming face of the boy who had just hugged her, his eyes filled with tears of joy. "Wow, I mean I heard you had moved to Hoenn, but I didn't even know where-"

"You remember me after all these years!" Brendan exclaimed enthusiastically and turned to wipe his eyes. "It's such a touching moment..."

Lyra pushed Brendan a bit away from her. Of course, she did remember. Years ago, as a kid, whenever Lyra would visit her grandparents who lived near Goldenrod City, she would have a walk through the city and visit the Contest Hall, where Brendan was watching the contests. As Brendan's mother was an organizer and DJ for those contests, Brendan was able to come and enjoy the shows whenever he felt like for free. He and Lyra would often play together and try out accessories for Lyra's grandparents' Marill and Norman's Zigzagoon, much to Norman's dismay. Though Brendan was never as close to Lyra as Kris and Ethan had been, Lyra still looked forward to meeting him every time.

"The only person in the world who appreciated the sheer beauty of Pokémon as much as me," Brendan reminisced. "It's good to see you again, old friend. But why did you leave the glamor of Johto for such a dusty old place?"

Lyra smiled. "You're as flamboyant as ever, Brendan. Just don't hug me without warning next time. But yeah, it is nice to see you. Still throwing a hissy fit whenever someone mentions your father?"

Lyra asked the question innocently, but hearing the word 'father' already deflated Brendan even further and caused him to clench his fists and sulk dramatically.

"He still doesn't think being a Coordinator is a worthy career for me," Brendan grumbled. "I haven't even talked to him about it in years."

"I thought so," Lyra shrugged, but still smiled cheerfully. "Cheer up, though. Even if you'll live on with the thought that you'll have disappointed your father, you could still be a Top Coordinator one day!"

Brendan laughed at Lyra's bluntness, adjusted his hat and posed for a nonexistent camera.

"You bet I will!" he said as he somehow made himself sparkle majestically.

"Well, I'm here to kill time and search for ways to improve myself and my Pokémon 'till the Hoenn League starts," Lyra announced. "I was going to enter my Typhlosion to the Normal Rank Beauty Contest and get a Hoenn Contest Pass while I was at it."

"I'm betting you'll ace it – since I'm not entering, that is," Brendan said and gave Lyra thumbs up. He then lifted his Mudkip from the floor and showed it to Lyra. "I'm going to enter this baby to the Tough Contest. Lyra, Mudkip, Mudkip, Lyra."

Lyra clasped her hands together and squeed. "It's so cute – and that outfit you made is awesome!"

Brendan had sewn Mudkip a bandanna and a little outfit with a camouflage pattern to make it look tougher. It didn't work, gauging from Lyra's reaction as she petted the Mudkip's head, causing it to smile widely.

"I know," Brendan said and beamed under the praise, "but still, doesn't it look kind of... fierce?"

Lyra looked at the little blue Pokémon. "No," she said after three seconds of thinking.

"At least think a little while longer!"

Lyra thought for five seconds. "Still no."

Brendan sighed, but got over it quickly as he lifted the Mudkip in the air. "Well, I don't care!" he announced. "The winner of the Verdanturf Town Normal Rank Tough Contest will be me! Oh, and Mudkip, too!"

Brendan's posturing hadn't gone unnoticed, though most of the crowd in the Contest Hall's reception area had gotten used to it during Brendan's stay in the town. However, a young, dark-haired man wearing glasses and a fancy, blue suit approached Lyra and Brendan from the crowd.

"Excuse my interruption, miss," the man said to Lyra politely, completely ignoring Brendan. "Might you be Lyra from New Bark Town? I wouldn't ask otherwise, but I was particularly interested when I saw you at the Silver Conference three months ago."

"Oh, sure, that's me!" Lyra said cheerfully and nudged Brendan with her elbow. "Wow, didn't know my fame extended all the way over here. So, mister, you want an autograph or something?"

The man smiled and waved the offer away. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Cheren, I'm a gym leader in Aspertia City, Unova. But my other job is to also estimate the abilities of promising trainers and boost their careers... you could say I'm a talent scout, though that makes it sound far too cold."

"Well, if it's talent you're looking for, Mr. Cheren, you better look out for me in the upcoming contest!" Brendan announced.

Cheren stared at Brendan blankly before turning back to Lyra. "Could we perhaps talk privately?" he asked.

"Sure, I don't see why not," Lyra said and shrugged. "Later, Brendan! Good luck!"

Brendan wasn't happy to see Lyra and the weird Cheren guy walk away, but was then reminded of the more important matters at hand. He registered to the Normal Rank Tough Contest and quickly ran to the locker rooms together with his Pokémon.

As the contest began, Brendan and Mudkip stood in a row with the other three Coordinators and their Pokémon, Brendan being third from the left. He kept his eyes closed throughout the first round, where the judges and the audience evaluated the Pokémon's condition. The scores given by both parties would then accumulate to the second round, the Appeal Round. At least, that was how Hoenn's Contests worked, apart from the Grand Festival, where battling was expected as well, though the winner in those matches wasn't the one who was the most powerful, but who fought with the most style and grace.

As in Pokémon battles, an overenthusiastic announcer was always present:

"_Welcome, welcome and once again welcome to the Verdanturf Town Normal Rank Tough Contest! Without a single doubt, I can say that we're definitely going to see some magnificent displays of strength today. __First up, let's hear it for Mariah's Aron!_"

The Aron's iron skin shined as it displayed its impenetrable toughness. The audience applauded slightly. 6, 8 and 5 from the judges.

"_Next up, we have Morris and his Makuhita! Look at those muscles, folks!_"

The Makuhita and its broad-shouldered trainer both flexed their muscles together. The audience applauded a bit louder. 8, 8 and 4 from the judges.

"_Then, we have frequent Contest-goer Brendan and his Mudkip. There is definitely more than meets the eye here_!"

The audience applauded loudly as Brendan demonstrated his Mudkip's outfit, the Mudkip attempting to look as fierce as possible. Brendan had already swayed the crowd thanks to his earlier Contests, but the judges were a harder bunch to please. Even with all the time it took for Brendan to make a badass uniform for Mudkip, his results were a 6, 7 and a 3 from the jury, slightly upsetting him. Even if he already had two ribbons, the lack of appreciation for his sewing was like a punch in the gut for him.

"_And lastly, Contest veteran Harley and his curmudgeon of a Cacturne! Let's hear it for him!_"

The crowd went absolutely nuts – Brendan didn't know such a small audience could produce such noise. Brendan looked to his right, noticing the man called Harley. He had long and fabulous purple hair, big blue eyes and a peculiar green outfit that resembled his equally peculiar Pokémon. The Cacturne looked like a green scarecrow made of cacti, and wasn't exactly the first thing that leaped to Brendan's mind when thinking of beautiful Pokémon, but the jury gave him a 9, a 9 and a 5. Harley blew kisses and posed at the crowd – Brendan had to seriously step up his game.

In preparation for the second round, Brendan caught Harley polishing his Cacturne. Wondering if he could steal some tricks from him, Brendan decided to try to engage in friendly small talk with him.

"Hi," he said as he approached Harley, "I'm-"

"Yes, yes, Brandon, I heard, please, darling, I'm in the middle of preparations," Harley snapped without taking his eyes off his Pokémon.

_Wow, _Brendan thought.

"Uh, sorry," he said and took a step back to look at the Cacturne, who patiently waited for Harley to finish working on his leg spikes. "Man, your Pokémon sure is something. It's kind of scary up close-"

Harley turned to glare at Brendan so quickly that his neck cracked, causing Brendan to flinch.

"What did you say?" Harley whispered threateningly.

"Um, nothing, I meant it in a good way – this is the toughness contest, after all!" Brendan quickly said.

Harley nodded, seemingly placated for now, and turned back to work on polishing his Pokémon with big, smooth gestures that made Brendan a bit uncomfortable.

"You did pretty well on the first round, especially considering you didn't even accessorize your Pokémon," Brendan continued, "though your outfit is pretty cool. Didja get it off the rack?"

Harley turned to glare at Brendan again, even faster this time, metaphorical daggers shooting out of his eyes as he stood up and looked down on Brendan, being a foot taller than him.

"Ignorant little – this is hand-made," Harley proclaimed. "My wife supplies me the fabric, I prepare the outfits! My dream is to one day win the Grand Festival and use the prize money to move to Kalos, where me and my wife will be made the cream of high society – no more of them looking down on us!"

"Um, cool, I just wondered if you could get those anywhere," Brendan flustered. "So... do you live in Hoenn?"

"For now," Harley said. "We move from region to region and don't stay long in one place. We've already been to Johto and Sinnoh. Though I hardly expected Hoenn to be so – rural," he added in disgust.

Brendan gasped. "I feel the same way," he said. "So, now that we're buddies-"

"Well, I can spare you a few minutes, sugar-plum," Harley said and flicked his hair back. "I mean, surely you've heard of me and my conquering of the contests in Sinnoh before."

"Um... nope, sorry," Brendan said.

Harley's eye twitched, but he cleared his throat and covered it up quickly. "Well, then, I would suppose my magnificent Cacturne's reputation would precede mine! Surely you've heard of the numerous ribbons he's won?"

"That'd be a no," Brendan said. "Never even seen one until now."

Harley ground his teeth together. "Well, then, Brendy-pie, you'll see first hand in the Contest when my Cacturne's style obliterates you and your Mudkip." He glared at the Mudkip, whose outfit Brendan had expanded with an eye patch and a plastic battle knife Mudkip held in its mouth. "To think you'd resort to such petty tactics as putting a tacky garment on your Pokémon to win."

Now it was Brendan's turn twitch. In a moment of barely constrained fury, Brendan and Harley glared at each other, their respective Pokémon just staring obliviously on the background. Before they could tear out each others throats, the judge announced that the second round had begun.

During the appeal round, Mariah's Aron improved its score by using an Iron Defense and Take Down combo, managing to completely shatter some rocks Mariah had laid on the field, causing tiny, sparkling stone pebbles to rain on the field, which excited the audience.

Morris' Makuhita also relied on strength. Using a cinder block Morris had dragged into the field, Morris had Makuhita use Seismic Toss to toss the block into the air, then use Arm Thrust on the block when it landed to shatter it in two, clean pieces. The audience was excited, and the judges gave a good score, but he didn't do as well as Mariah.

When it was Brendan's turn, Brendan became acutely aware that he hadn't trained his Mudkip to be physically strong. Instead, Brendan opted to try a different kind of toughness. First, he had Mudkip do a Rain Dance that created a localized rain cloud directly above Mudkip. Then, he used Bide to make Mudkip glow red and absorb the rainwater on itself before releasing it into the air with enormous pressure. Finally, Mudkip leaped into the air and used its fake knife to split the streams of water, drenching the field with glittering drops of water. Brendan got the highest score so far, and he and Mudkip bowed at the audience together.

When it came Harley's turn, Brendan watched from the sidelines, he and Mudkip leaning as close as possible. Harley had clearly practiced the appeal before, having to merely snap his fingers to make Cacturne spin rapidly on the ground, whipping up a small sandstorm that raged like a tornado around Harley and Cacturne, obscuring both from view. For a few seconds, Brendan couldn't see what was happening, but then Cacturne emerged from the pillar of sand with a Low Kick that scattered the sand all over the arena in a clean fashion, forming a silhouette of Cacturne on the ground, which made the crowd go absolutely insane, though after the jury's score, he only became second on the scoreboard, after Brendan.

But during Cacturne's attack, sand had been thrown into Mudkip's eyes. Brendan became panicked and quickly tried to clean it off, but it only seemed to worsen the situation, causing pained squeals from the Mudkip. Seeing as no one else had been hit by the sand, no one believed Brendan's complaint that Harley had done it deliberately, but either way, Brendan was forced to withdraw from the Contest and rush Mudkip to the Pokémon Center. As he left the Contest Hall, he glared at Harley, seeing him wave and blow a kiss in Brendan's direction, making Brendan shake with anger.

_I _will _destroy that man, _Brendan thought.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Unknown, Hoenn**_

Mewtwo sat in the darkness of the cave on the outskirts of Hoenn, the daylight from outside barely penetrating the cracks and holes in the cave, but it was still far too dark to see in front of ones face. As Mewtwo meditated, it ruminated on the questions still lingering on its mind. Who am I? Why am I here? Who brought me here? Why am I fighting? What value does my existence have?

_Who brought me here_? That was an easy answer. Dr. Blaine, Dr. Fuji and the rest of the scientists, of course. But then, Mewtwo had killed them all but spared Blaine. What had given it more right to live than the others? _Why couldn't I kill him too? _More importantly, how can humans create something out of nothing? Humans were far below the levels of Mewtwo and Latias, and even far, _far_ further below the likes of the fabled Arceus, the Original Pokémon Mewtwo had heard about so much.

_Why am I here_? Because the human Giovanni wanted to use its power. Because Mew was out of his reach. But to think of that as the only reason... Mewtwo couldn't stand it. There had to be something else...

_Why am I fighting_?

"Hi!" a perky voice said suddenly.

"Amb-"

Mewtwo turned to look. Latias was floating upside down from the cave's ceiling, presumably gazing at Mewtwo. It was hard to tell in the darkness and with Latias' pupils missing.

"Why are you in the ceiling?" Mewtwo asked flatly as it returned to meditate.

"'Cause I am," Latias replied. "I can't _believe_ the amazing rush I felt when I got to make those bastard humans explode with my own attacks! I _have_ to do that again! My scales are itching, my blood is boiling... I have to experience that again soon."

"We still have to lay low a bit," Mewtwo said calmly. "I'm currently attempting to telepathically shift through news broadcasts to see if they're after us and to find a new target."

"You can do that?" Latias wondered. "My brother and I were one of the most powerful psychics in this world but never knew anything about that!"

"Perhaps you didn't try hard enough," Mewtwo remarked. "I'm trying to concentrate."

"...has anyone told you that you're way too serious all the time?" Latias asked.

Mewtwo stopped shifting through the radio and TV broadcasts that had formed a foggy tempest of sounds and images in its mind. As its hands stopped glowing, Mewtwo opened its eyes again, staring into the darkness of the cave.

"I'm sorry to hear about your brother," it said simply.

Latias fired a Mist Ball directly at Mewtwo's spot, Mewtwo dodging at the last minute, the attack blowing the flat rock it was sitting on into fine powder. A purple glow was enveloping Latias' entire body, her milky white eyes glaring at Mewtwo, about to unleash a Dark-type attack.

"How did you know?!" she screamed at Mewtwo. "You shouldn't be able to read my mind!"

"I didn't have to," Mewtwo said firmly. "Calm down – if you use too much power, you'll destroy this cave and yourself in the process!"

Latias stared at Mewtwo a little while longer, but eventually the purple glow subsided and Latias landed on the ground, closing her eyes.

"I didn't think he was any fun either," Latias admitted. "He was always so focused on his tasks, never letting me even consider attempting to contact humans. I used to disagree with him about it all the time... pretty ironic, isn't it?"

"Latias," Mewtwo said, "what if I told you that not all-"

"What if _I_ told you that I don't need you to tell me that they're not 'all' like that?!" Latias snapped, causing Mewtwo flinch. "I can pick up surface thoughts from you, too – you're not as good at hiding them as you'd like to think! I _knew_ you were secretly thinking that all along, but you went with me to kill those humans in blue uniforms anyway! If you have to convince me so hard that they're not 'all like that', then it just goes to show you how terrible they are! If you're going to betray me, I can kill you without a second thought!"

"Those people in blue uniforms were ordered to capture you!" Mewtwo countered. "You wanted to kill humans, I wanted to protect you, so they had to be a priority!"

"...who was it that you seem to care so much for?" Latias wondered.

Mewtwo turned away from Latias as it responded. "Just like your captors took a brother from you, someone very important to me died because of those who were going to enslave me. She was a human, or she said she was one, and she was my first real connection to this world. I'm not sure if we knew each other for a few weeks, a few months or a few years, but either way, it felt like a long time for me. When she died, it seems like I lost all hope, but in the end, as much as it pains me to say this... it was her words that reminded me that I do have a place in this world, even if I haven't found it yet..."

Mewtwo turned at Latias, who had listened intently throughout his monologue.

"...but I want to help you, that's for sure!" Mewtwo insisted.

Latias narrowed her eyes. "Are you going to back down on your promise?"

Mewtwo sat where his mediation spot had been, crossed its legs in a lotus position and closed its eyes again, the blue glow surrounding its hands once more.

"No," it said. "I will help you get your revenge. But I ask that you trust me in the meantime."

There was a moment of silence as Mewtwo focused on its meditation, Latias staring at it for a long time.

"Mewtwo," she said finally.

"Yes?"

"...I trust you."

**~o~O~o¨**

_**Location: Route 104, Hoenn**_

"_Kris' log, day 4 in Hoenn. __Well, __my tried-and-true method of making crap up and hoping for the best didn't work this time, but I still stand by my success rate: it worked 53% of the time in school! __Fortunately for my ego, May flunked the test as well, __so we both had to try two more times until we finally nailed it. __I really wanted to get off Rustboro and try another gym, but since May is the one with the letter and the package, we didn't have much choice."_

"_That Roxanne's Nosepass was nothing against Croc, but I was surprised how easily May's Shroomish took it down as well, so now all three of us have the Stone Badge, bringing my badge count to six, Iris' to seven and May's to... one. She keeps fretting about some 'deadline' but hasn't told me the specifics._"

"_When we had free time, we trained, though sometimes it feels like May was training us – well, mostly Iris, as that ingrate doesn't take much advice from me. Either way, her style is something that I haven't been used to. __At first I thought it was a Hoenn thing, but even people here seem to find her a bit... odd_."

"You say your Zigzagoon is sick, huh?" May cheerfully asked from the rich boy she defeated on her way back to Petalburg, the rich boy having covered up by being too wealthy to train properly and that his Zigzagoon hadn't been in 'top condition'. "I'll check its condition in no time!"

And with that, May lifted the rich boy's Zigzagoon and brought its butt right up against her nose despite wails of protests from the rich boy and a suppressed mix of laughter and disgust from Kris and Iris.

"_Still, all those practical skills have come to use, I admit. So far, she hasn't lost against a single trainer she has challenged except for Norman back in Petalburg and Iris when they had a practice matched. I asked when she was going to have one with me; she laughed for two minutes straight_. _Either way, we're about to arrive to the place where Captain Cutter's friend lives and I'm almost out of in_-"

"Damn it," Kris cursed, threw her useless pen away and put her journal back in her bag.

Kris, Iris and May had arrived to Mr. Briney's cottage, an old wooden shack near the beach. Though the house looked dilapidated, Briney clearly had enough moolah to have a personal jetty and a large boat. Kris and Iris glanced at each other uncertainly near the entrance, while May marched confidently to the door and knocked on it.

But there was no answer. May knocked again, more briskly, but oddly enough, the trio could hear noise from the inside. All three pressed their ears against the door.

"_Ah, get her, lad! Peeko, stand still, they're just visitors! Hold her down, wouldya, lad, I need to get the door!_"

Kris, Iris and May quickly backed away from the door as it was briskly opened by an old, bald man with a bushy white beard smoking a pipe.

"Sorry, lasses, I've already found Arceus," Briney said roughly. "Tell the rest of them that you better not mess with this old fisherman, as I know plenty of stuff from my Navy days-"

"I-it's not that, Mr. Briney!" Kris said quickly. "We came to ask you for a favor. M-my name is Kris, and these are Iris and May. We're friends with Captain Cutter!"

Briney narrowed his eyes and his expression changed immediately. Iris quickly handed him the folded paper Cutter had written. As Briney unfolded it and started to read it, his expression turned again, this time to a grin followed by boisterous laughter.

"Ah, that wily old bastard!" he laughed and slapped Iris on the shoulder, startling her. "He'll never let that old thing go! Well, come on in then and we'll discuss matters. You have to excuse the mess – we have another guest. And take your damn shoes off!"

Briney limped inside, May briskly following suit, followed by Kris and Iris, though a bit uncertainly. Still, all three removed their shoes without hesitation and followed Briney into the main room of the shack, a combined kitchen and living room. There was a musty smell emanating from the house, but Kris wasn't sure if it came from the walls, the furniture, Briney himself or whatever a man near the stove was cooking.

"I retired from sailin' and became just a regular old fisherman," Briney informed as he dragged himself to the nearest chair and sat down.

When some kind of white liquid dropped on her shoulder, Kris winced in disgust and looked up, noting a Wingull flying around the ceiling, starting to squawk at the three as soon as Kris made eye contact with it. Kris knew what it was, seeing as the Petalburg Harbor was swarming with about eighty billion of those creatures, but hadn't had a chance to scan one until now...

"Don't do it," Iris told Kris exasperatedly. "I'll tell you about it later if you want."

"Sorry," Kris said sheepishly. "You of all people shouldn't blame a girl for wanting to learn."

"It's not that, I just don't want to hear that PokéDex talk now."

"Settle down, Peeko!" Briney snapped at the Wingull. "Behave yourself when we have company!"

Surprisingly, the Peeko obliged, flying on a couch in the corner and landed gracefully on a cushion, folding its wings and staring with its black button eyes. Kris had to admit it was kind of cute – but if it ever pooped on her clothes again, Croc would get himself a good snack.

"Sit down, sit down, don't stay at the door!" Briney said warmly, and Kris, Iris and May assumed seats around the table. "It's pretty late in the evening, so why don't ya stay here for tonight? But before we agree on anything, where do you want to go?"

"Dewford Town!" May said immediately. "We have business there! A letter needs to reach its destination."

Briney chuckled. "Can't rely on the post office these days, eh?" he said. "That's only an hour away, but as a habit, I avoid sailing after sunset! Why don't you grab a bite to eat it instead!"

"Ooh, good, I'm really hungry!" Iris said enthusiastically. "Thank you, Mr. Briney!"

"Not a problem," Briney grinned. "Hope you like Tentacool soup!"

Iris and Kris stared at each other, but Iris just shrugged.

"Eh, I heard what he said, but somehow I'm still hungry," she said.

She then turned to look at the man who kept working near the stove, wearing a frilly, pink apron which clashed oddly with his long, blue coat and dusty, black boots. In fact, the duster in particular seemed oddly familiar, and as Kris noted, the man seemed to be quietly laughing to himself as he cooked.

"Excuse me, but what's your name?" Iris asked the cook politely.

"Where are my manners!" Briney laughed and slapped himself in the forehead so hard that Kris flinched. "Lasses, this here lad has stayed at my house since yesterday. I don't particularly care for drifters, but he's earned his keep, and best yet, he went into the Rusturf Tunnel to save my darling Peeko from one of those Team Magma scoundrels!"

Kris leaned closer to Briney.

"Did you say Team Magma?" she asked, surprised. "So they're here, too..."

"Hm?"

"Mr. Briney, two days ago, a Team Aqua member attacked us at the Petalburg Woods," Iris explained. "Well, he attacked a Devon employee, actually-"

"And I was the one who drove her off!" May boasted. "Any schmucks from Team Magma try to come into my way and I'll beat 'em to the curb as well!"

The man near the stove made another weird noise, and this time Kris was sure that he was laughing. May heard it too, and turned to glare at the man's back.

"You find that funny?" she asked him. "What do you know about those teams anyway? And don't you have the guts to turn around and talk to me?"

"Team Aqua," Briney said raspily and started stroking his glorious beard. "I've crossed paths with them once this year while sailing from Lilycove to Mossdeep. They were up to something there and almost sunk my boat – but no one believed my story. Granted, that might have been because I had to soothe my nerves with a bottle or two of rum after that, but still... if they're around, they could be planning something in Dewford. They mainly move on water."

But Briney soon grinned and slammed the table enthusiastically, and turned to look at the cook's back.

"But then, you'll take care of 'em too, right lad?" Briney asked him. "Lasses, this here is a genuine drifter slash bounty hunter from Orre, according to himself anyway. His name is-"

"Wes," the man said as he turned. "Wes Marston, nice to meet y'all."

Iris gasped while Kris almost sank her nails into Briney's table. Kris hadn't seen the man in three months, but every encounter with him seemed to lead to inevitable feelings of annoyance mixed with disgust. Kris was sure that he had decided not to dog her anymore, but there he was, with his messy dark blonde hair, golden brown eyes and smug expression.

"No need to introduce me to these two," Wes told Briney and gestured at Kris and Iris. "Good to see you, Iris. Same to you, Krissy."

"Why are you here?" Kris asked Wes through clenched teeth.

"You know what, I'm just gonna be honest with you, I wanted to find you guys," Wes said casually. "It has to do with a certain... Champion."


	4. The Eight Trials

**Chapter Four: _The __Eight__ Trials_**

_**Location: Mr. Briney's boat, en route to Dewford Town, Hoenn**_

The group spent the night at Briney's rather uncomfortably, Kris, Iris and May having to sleep in his boat, which was now speeding towards Dewford Town. Kris and Iris had caught a glimpse of the sea route upon arrival to Hoenn (their current location being somewhere between Routes 105 and 106), but now they could see the various small, sparsely populated islands and the abundance of water Pokémon clearer than before, Iris almost falling off the edges of the boat in her attempt to catch a closer look of Hoenn's life aquatic.

To Kris' surprise, Wes had been rather taciturn throughout the trip, though his smug expression still remained the same. That gave the group a chance to give their Pokémon a rest, May feeding her Torchic and Shroomish, Iris attempting to teach her Sliggoo how to do tricks and Kris allowing Croc to swim next to the boat and Honchkrow to fly near it, also allowing Shrew to eat a little.

Shrew still didn't seem too fond of Wes, and as the latter didn't want to say why and the former was... a Pokémon, Kris still had to stay in the dark. Either way, the Sandshrew hissed exposed its claws whenever Wes tried to come near. Finally, after they had sailed almost an hour, Wes seemed to be ready to talk. Kris, Iris and May joined him in the cabin under the deck, leaving their Pokémon, except for May's Torchic, above to frolic around.

Kris noticed Wes had let at least one of his Pokémon out, too, though his Espeon just sat on a pillow in the corner, uncaring of the happenings around it. Kris, Iris and May sat in a row opposite to Wes, who had a bunch of papers in front of him.

"You sure you can read all of those?" Kris said icily, having crossed her arms while glaring at Wes. "They don't have a lot pictures in them, it seems."

Wes seemed to brush it off easily. "My mother is Orre's regional professor now, you know."

"A fact that I have to remind myself of," Kris remarked.

"Okay, calm down, everyone," Iris said and smiled at Wes. "We're both happy to see you, even her-"

"No," Kris argued.

"-we're just surprised that you're here, especially after disappearing on us at Mt. Silver," Iris finished, ignoring Kris. Oddly enough, she seemed to smile warmly to Wes and even sat the closest to him.

Even more weirdly, Wes smiled back. "I knew you missed me, at least," he said suavely. "I just wanted to see that Kris was okay – after I had confirmed that, there wasn't much reason to stay. Well, maybe some," he added, grinning obnoxiously, "but I had important things to worry about."

"Would that be all those agents crawling around?" Kris asked. "You're a criminal, after all."

"I would call myself misunderstood," Wes pondered, "but no, I had to investigate something, and if you don't want the results-"

"Ahem!"

Everyone looked at May, who had been feeding blue PokéBlocks to her Torchic all this time, but seemed to have listened to the conversation, too, and had now raised her hand in the air.

"Fill the new girl in, would ya?" May said. "Who is this guy?"

"It's a long story-" Kris began.

"Yeah, whatever, but if you guys want me to show you around Hoenn, you can't leave me in the dark!" May argued stubbornly. "'Coz I'll be asking you all the time until you give in!"

"Sorry about that, May, politeness is a new concept to good old Krissy here," Wes said to May smarmily, making an effort to show that he remembered her name. "But we go way back with her and Iris-"

"No, we just met you four months ago," Kris sighed and turned to May. "Here's the thing. About four to five months ago, I started my Pokémon journey-"

"So you _are_ a rookie!" May gasped. "You lied to me!"

"Technically, no," Kris said awkwardly. "I'm still more experienced than you, and I have been, uh, mentally preparing becoming a trainer since I could walk, so there! Now would you please listen?"

Kris cleared her throat.

"So, I wanted to compete in the Silver Conference, but I didn't have the time to run around Johto to get _all _eight badges – the ones I got were merely to test how much I had improved."

"To compete, you usually have to have eight badges or sign in _very_ early and pay an extravagant sum of money," Iris exposited. "Since Kris was close to professor Elm, she caught wind of one other way: to complete a set of dangerous and character-testing tasks laid out by the Blackthorn Dragon Clan and, uh, some monks in Ecruteak City, since they uphold the old laws of Pokémon competitions in Johto."

"Weird place," May remarked. "Over here we _have _to have eight badges – or four ribbons if you're some pansy Coordinator," she grumbled.

"Well, the same goes for Johto, usually, but the Silver Conference is a much bigger event than a traditional league tournament!" Kris insisted. "Anyway, that's how I met Iris here, but along the way, I got into all kinds of trouble with Team Rocket..."

May tilted her head. "That a soccer team?"

"No, it's – like Team Aqua and Team Magma, but less stupid in terms of goals and uniforms," Kris said quickly. "Anyway, I completed the tasks, but got caught up in something bigger. Me and my friends were used as pawns in Team Rocket's plans, and something even more than that. That's when I found out _Wes_ here," Kris glanced at Wes, "had been keeping tabs on me for some shady purpose."

"To evaluate how you fit into the grand scheme of things," Wes insisted, "and 'cause I was bored. She, well, her Pokémon, defeated the guy who had resurrected Team Rocket, and for once without any help! Well, unless you count my crucial part in the whole thing."

"But what this guy neglected to explain," Kris nodded at Wes, "was what it was all about. The only thing me and Iris know is that there's this weird prophecy thing that may or may not involve the former Champion of the Indigo League, Red."

"You told me you're looking for him," May nodded. "Why?"

"We just want to know what he's doing," Kris said nonchalantly and turned to look at Wes. "_This guy_ can tell us if there's another reason we should."

"You better believe there is," Wes smirked.

Wes laid all of his documents on the floor, and by his request, Iris also put the papers Wes had given to her back at Mt. Silver near them, spreading the sheets of paper all over the floor, practically filling most of the space in the cabin.

"According to that friend o' Red's I told you about," Wes began to explain, "this thing dates back to anything between a few hundred to a few _thousand_ years in the past. Like I said, it might as well be just some ancient bedtime story or whatever, but it's pretty interesting in some parts... we all know about the big war in the north thirty years ago?"

Iris nodded. "The Pokémon-Human war," she said immediately and began a lecture. "It was said that humans were being killed by legendary Pokémon believed to be the 'Swords of Justice', in accordance with an ancient legend of the same happening hundreds of years ago. No one knew for sure, but during the war, not only were hordes of Pokémon apparently attacking humans, but so were humans who had allied themselves with them. Similarly, many Pokémon fought in the war on the human's side."

"I've heard of that!" May was quick to say to prove that she wasn't ignorant either. "The war lasted for five years until they sent some Pokémon masters from Unova to deal with it, right?"

"The Seven Sages," Iris nodded thoughtfully. "But only two of them survived. One is a now a reclusive gym leader in Kanto and the other one became a scientist. The battle ended where the Holon region is now, and that just happens to be the main place where Pokémon are trained for defense."

Wes started to rub his temples and stare at the papers thoughtfully. "One of the passages over _here_," he jabbed at one of the papers, "apparently talks about the 'cycles of age', or 'wheel of time' or something like that. History repeats itself – and isn't there a big hullabaloo about those three people supposedly killed by Suicune?"

"I'm gonna prove them wrong!" Kris said determinedly. "But right now, we need to translate this thing. Where does it talk about Red?"

"In these three," Wes said and pointed at the three papers closest to him. "Something about 'a child shall rise' and 'a child shall lead them'. Of course, they drew maps and calculated time in a completely different way from us, but we can say that the Champion originated what is _approximately_ Kanto and began his journey _approximately_ three years ago. It's all open to interpretation, however."

Kris groaned. "Why do ancient texts have to be so damn vague?"

"The real question is, why do languages have to be so damn vague?" Wes countered. "Really, for all we know, this could be a recipe for a really tasty sponge cake."

"So Iris' paper says that 'a successor will rise and save the Champion from a fate worse than death'?" Kris asked.

"Seems so," Wes said and shrugged. "They imply that the Champion is the new 'Transcendent One' and his or her successor will follow in their footsteps – probably. But the successor must prove themselves though arduous trials, suffering and so on – most of that hasn't been translated yet. Then there's something about a meteor... an invasion... a resurrection... opening of a gateway..."

"Yeah, it's vague, we get the picture," Kris grumbled, looking at the cabin's ceiling contemplatively. "But if you and Red's friend sought me out..."

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Wes said immediately. "This isn't about you being some chosen figure – quite the contrary, we've already established the chosen figure, now we need to find the successor. You have potential, but that's about it. It's still too vague to be sure."

But Kris continued to stare at the ceiling with her arms crossed, a sly smile on her lips.

_A successor to one of the greatest trainers of all time... no matter what that means, with that much influence, I could show a few people how it's done_ – _and shut Lyra up for good._

"Well, we best pick these back up," Iris said perkily and started to reassemble the papers. "Once we find someone who can read this text-"

"_Dewford Town ahoy, children_!" Briney yelled from above deck. "_We'll be in dock in about seven minutes_!"

Indeed, six minutes and fifty-seven seconds later, Briney's ship was in dock and Kris, Iris, May and Wes disembarked. Mr. Briney promised to wait until the letter had been delivered and take the group into Slateport next, no charge.

Leaving the docks, the group took in the sights of the island town. It seemed almost the entirety of the town was located on one big beach, with some countryside and wilderness further away. Dewford gave even more of a humble, small town -vibe than New Bark Town had ever done, the beach housing a huge market full of little shops and stands.

"Okay, and now to look for this Steven guy," May said spiritedly, observing the sealed letter she was holding. "Yeah. Look for him, we must. Definitely."

An awkward silence followed.

"Any ideas?" May asked quietly.

"Wait, Mr. Stone said that his son collects rare rocks, right?" Iris remembered.

May opened the PokéNav Stone had given her and brought up a holographic map of the Hoenn region. As May zoomed in closer, the group could see a map of the island they were on, Dewford Town included.

"The PokéGear can't do that!" Kris commented. "Amazing piece of technology, that. Any thoughts?"

"There's a place called the Granite Cave on the outskirts of this town," Iris pointed out. "Seems like a logical place to start from if you're looking for stones."

May scoffed. "He's an ex-Champion and he wanders around collecting rocks? Weirdo."

"They could have gems inside them, though," Wes pondered. "Imagine the profits of selling one of those babies – and imagine how cool would I look if I decorated my Pokémon with them? Their flash would _blind_ anyone I'd fight!"

"Yeah, yeah, that's amazing and all that," Kris murmured. "But now that there's so many of us... I don't think _all of us _need to go."

"Well, I'm going for sure!" May said enthusiastically. "I promised to get this delivered and I want to get it done as quickly as possible – and there could be some cool Pokémon over there I can use against this town's gym leader!"

"Yeah, yeah, you go on to do that," Kris said, nodding furiously and almost pushing May in the right direction. "I'm going to check out the markets in case he's there instead. Iris, you can go with her - call me on the PokéGear if something comes up. Remember," Kris said in a suddenly serious, firm voice, making eye contact with Iris, "ask him about _everything_."

Iris tapped her nose with her finger briefly.

"Wes," Kris said, "you should-"

"Come with you?" Wes suggested quickly. "Fantastic! Two and two seems like a good split. Plus, balance is important – this way, we'll have one rookie and one powerful trainer in both groups!"

Kris wanted to kick Wes in the shin and narrowed her eyes at him, but arguing now would seem far too suspicious.

"Fine," she grunted. "You can come with me!"

"Yay," Wes squeed in a high-pitched voice. "See you later!" he told May and Iris and cheerfully waved as they walked away.

As Iris and May left, Kris started marching through the beach into the inner parts of the town, following the frequently placed signs to find her goal. Wes kept up with her pace easily, continuing to eye her suspiciously as they walked.

"What?!" Kris snapped at him.

"So, what's up with this?" Wes asked. "What are you scheming?"

Kris snorted. "You, of all people, accuse me of 'scheming'?"

"Yes," Wes said. "Are you?"

"...yes."

"Knew it."

"Shut up," Kris grumbled. "I'm going to find the gym."

"I'm guessing it's not to test his abilities so you can guide May, is it?" Wes guessed, prompting Kris to glare at him. "Yeah, she told me you guys are training her. That would be mighty thoughtful of ya... which means it's probably not true."

"Well, I might as well try to battle him now that I'm here," Kris said evasively, "but apparently people from Hoenn know about that strange writing more than us. If a gym leader doesn't know anything, my next step will be the local researchers, and if that fails, I'll go up to the Champion himself. I've met Wallace once before – I'm pretty sure he doesn't remember me, but still, he's an okay guy."

"Hmm," Wes said unnecessarily loudly as he briskly followed Kris past the narrow, unpaved streets and alleys of Dewford towards the gym. "You're saying you're afraid _she_ might attempt to gun for your coveted 'successor' position?"

"If Team Aqua is really here, then the less she knows, the better," Kris said. "I know it's a new concept to you, but it's called caring about others!"

Wes didn't smile anymore. "Maybe you ought to reconsider those words," he said quietly.

"As soon as you reconsider your personality," Kris shot back.

The Dewford Town Gym was in a southern corner of town, with nothing but forest behind it, though it still took less than twenty minutes to get there from the docks. It was a regular small town gym, nothing out of the ordinary – until Kris and Wes stepped inside.

The interior of the gym was almost completely dark, only a few torches and candles around the walls giving the gym a pale, eery light. This surprised Kris at first, but Kris remembered May's mention of the idiosyncrasies Hoenn's gym leaders had. And apart from her elitism regarding theoretical knowledge, Roxanne had been fairly normal, so surely Brawly, Dewford Town's gym leader wasn't going to be some weirdo.

The gym guide was willing to guide Kris to the leader, but insisted that Wes stayed at the entrance. No reason for this was given, but Kris was quite frankly relieved that she wouldn't have to listen to Wes' input during her battle, so she cheerfully accepted. But when the gym guide had finished escorting Kris, she couldn't see anything – not just because of the darkness, as there were torches around where the gym leader was supposed to be. The gym guide, however, just left Kris alone, not answering any of her questions.

_Frickin' Hoenn weirdoes_.

Suddenly, Kris was almost deafened by a sudden guitar riff blaring from unseen loudspeakers, followed by out-of-tune rock music and someone talking to her via microphone:

"_A puny pipsqueak of a Pokémon practitioner has been sent to me, huh? Well prepare to get your keester keelhauled, missy, because you're up against the unstoppable juggernaut of a Gym leader, Buuuuuuuuuh-rawlyyyyyyy~!_"

"What the hell...?" Kris muttered.

"_Your Pokémon don't even have the puniest of prayers, pal – the man you're about to mess with has been trained by the mightiest of musclemen known to mankind – Buh-buh-Bruno from the Elite Four himself! That's right, toots – today, a trainer will be totaled under the stupendous strength of my mighty muscles. Brawly, and all his Pokémon pals will pulverize the pansy posies you call your Pokémon. Buhhhh-ring it, buddy!_"

Finishing his introduction, Brawly stepped into the light. Based on his voice and bragging, Kris had been extending a seven-foot tall hairless, oiled muscleman. Instead, Brawly had blue, spiky hair and casual clothes, and while he was muscular, it was more in a swimmer or surfer dude way than a bodybuilder way. Nonetheless, he continued boasting on, microphone in hand even though he was only a few feet away from Kris.

"_Do you feel the fear flanking you yet, little filly?_" Brawly continued. "_Because **Brawly** is about to begin to break your Pokémon right down to minute, molecular masses of mush, missy! Do you think you have what it takes to step up and **throw down** with the unfathomable, unconquerable and unstoppable **Brrrrrrrrrrawly**_?!"

"Um... yes?" Kris said.

Brawly threw the microphone over his shoulder casually, an assistant swooping into catch it, though the guitar-heavy rock music played on.

"Your confidence has been noted, little missy!" Brawly bragged and grabbed a Poké Ball from his pocket, starting to spin it on the tip of his finger expertly. "But me and my Fighting-type Pokémon have been training our bodies, minds and souls to the _extremes_!"

Kris wondered if this all was really just for her. She couldn't see anyone watching, but then again there _was _almost complete darkness around them, and it wasn't unheard of to televise gym battles, though only when they knew the battle would be a tough one – and surely they wouldn't film Kris without her permission? Either way, Kris wasn't going to let this punk outstage her.

"I have reason to be confident," Kris said, trying to sound impressive, though nothing really felt enough after that boastful introduction, Kris wondering if Brawly even heard her over the music. "I have six badges already!"

"Allow me to laugh – _hah_!" Brawly said. "If you'd know even a speck about the training I endured under _**Buh-buh-buh-Bruno**_, then you'd know better than to brag about your little victories. I spent a month on Mt. Silver, wrestling Ursaring and Abomasnow with nothing but the muscles I'm packing now! Under _**Buh-rawly's** _roof, everything else is meaningless. The only thing that matters here is strength, and I'm going to show you what it _really_ is, sister! Two Poké Balls and thirty minutes - n_ow let's get ready to **rrrrrrrrrrrumbleeeeee**_!"

Someone apparently turned down the volume a bit as the music died down a little, Brawly sending out his Medicham. Kris remembered seeing Arcade Star Dahlia fight this Pokémon back at the Silver Conference, and wasn't going to bother scanning it. However, since over half of the battlefield they were on was shrouded in complete darkness, Kris was going to need a Pokémon unhindered by it.

"Chandelure, go!" Kris yelled.

Kris sent out her prized ghost/fire-type, the Chandelure having a large, round head with no face apart from yellow, pupil-less eyes, purple flames burning on its head and on the ends of spikes extending from its black, curled 'arms'. As soon as Chandelure was out of its Poké Ball, it was much easier to see around.

"If you thought a wispy little ghost-type would threaten me, missy, you're _dead_ wrong!" Brawly bragged, Kris getting annoyed with him already. "And I know the art of Ju, meaning the more power you're gonna throw my way, the easier it will be to take you _**downnnnnn**_~!"

"Don't you ever shut up?" Kris wondered. "Chandelure, Shadow Ball!"

"Mmmmmedicham, Detect!"

Its eyes glowing pale green for a split-second, Medicham dodged the sizzling ball of black energy Chandelure had launched with blinding speed. It then retaliated with a Zen Headbutt, the top of its head glowing light blue as it struck Chandelure, dealing serious damage to it.

"How can you be so fast... Chandelure, get closer to it and use Shadow Ball again!"

But Chandelure was too slow, and closing the distance only made it easier for Medicham to strike with another Zen Headbutt. This time, Chandelure was brought closer to the ground, its flames flickering a bit – Kris knew it couldn't last long, but didn't have any Pokémon trained to fight in the darkness, either, so...

"Chandelure, Flame Burst!" she ordered.

Purple fire was launched from all of Chandelure's flames, forming a ball of fire in the air which then burst, causing small burts of fire to hit everywhere, Medicham included, though the damage wasn't much. However, the flames stayed on the field, illuminating it well enough.

"Time to finish you off!" Brawly yelled, ignorant of what Kris had just did. "_**Rrrrrrrrrrrock sliiiiiiide**_!"

Medicham raised both of its hands in the air, forming orbs of energy that quickly turned into rocks that it launched at Chandelure with incredible velocity. Still feeling the aftereffects of Medicham's Zen Headbutt and too exhausted to dodge, Chandelure was hit with the attack and rendered unable to battle, prompting a recall from Kris. The flames, however, remained, and Kris wasn't held back by the darkness anymore.

"You only have one Pokémon to parry with, partner," Brawly announced. "Choose it wisely – or feel the devastating damage of defeat!"

"Yeah, I will – Croc, go!"

Kris sent out her Feraligatr next, Croc being refreshed and well stretched-out after its swim en route to Dewford. Brawly just chuckled at Kris' choice.

"You have sealed your fate, my friend!" he announced. "_**Mmmmedicham, **_High Jump Kick, _**nnnoooow**_!"

Though Brawly let his words drag on, he called the attack name very fast, allowing Medicham to jump into the air, ready to strike Croc with its knee. But Kris was ready, yelling at Croc to use Protect, stopping Medicham's advance on an invisible wall and sending flying backwards, hurt by crash damage.

"So you learned after all – Medicham, Thunder Punch!"

Medicham jumped back on its feet, its fist glowing yellow and sparkling with electricity. But it was too slow with its attack and its attempt to punch Croc failed. The Feraligatr sidestepped around the Medicham and retorted with Slash per Kris' instructions, bringing the Medicham down.

However, Brawly only looked pleased as he withdrew the Medicham.

"Nnnnnnice!" Brawly said. "But what your Feraligtr has in power, it lacks in discipline, the true mark of a worthwhile warrior! It's time for you to witness the power of my _**Harrrrrrrrrr-iyamaaaa**_~!"

"The what now?"

What emerged from Brawly's Poké Ball was a hulking giant of a Pokémon that was over seven and a half feet tall. It looked like a sumo wrestler and was vaguely humanoid in appearance, only with its body made of seemingly nothing but muscle and its two huge, orange hands being almost as big as Kris herself. This time, with no one around to complain, Kris decided to scan the Pokémon with her PokéDex.

"_Hariyama, the Arm Thrust Pokémon_," SkrillDex informed "_and the evolved form of Makuhita. It can make its torso as hard as stone, while its powerful hands can knock a truck flying and stop a train on its tracks_."

"You're messing with me," Kris said flatly.

"_Unit would like to point out that it has not written these entries, and would take this opportunity to remind username Kris of the tendency of humans, cognitively inferior in every way, to exaggerate._"

"At least you're not calling us 'meatbags' anymore," Kris muttered. "Any other info?"

"_Hariyama appears to be a Fighting-type_."

"Anything that I don't already know?"

"_This unit cannot read minds._"

"Come on, SkrillDex, be a pal!"

"..._its body is impervious to many types of attacks, but as a result, it's slow and unwieldy. If it attempts to stomp on the ground, it will attempt to power up, so it should be advised to stop it as soon as possible_."

"Wow, that actually helped!" Kris said. "You really do care about me, after all."

"_Username Kris is advised to avoid such blatantly unfounded assumptions_."

"I'm not hearing a no~" Kris sang, putting the PokéDex back in her bag to avoid it from retorting. "All right, Croc, you're faster than that meathead, so use Waterfall!"

"Fake Out!"

Hariyama just clapped its massive hands, causing a shock wave that hit Croc before it could attack, dazing the Pokémon.

"Hey, snap out of it!" Kris yelled. "Croc, do something!"

"And now... Bulk Up!"

Hariyama started stomping on the ground and flexing its muscles, its arms getting thicker and its body expanding slightly, a magenta aura surrounding it all the while.

"You gotta stop it from powering up!" Kris yelled. "You can't let yourself be humiliated by something like that – you beat the frickin' Masked Man!"

This finally snapped Croc out of its funk, making it shake its head and growl at Hariyama.

"Atta boy!" Kris cheered. "Now, we have to stop it from stomping – use Ice Punch on its legs!"

Croc charged at the Hariyama, its fist glowing blue. But as it punched Hariyama's stubby legs, the attack was deflected and Hariyama didn't even seem to feel it, casually slapping Croc away with Arm Thrust as it stopped glowing.

"A good strategy in theory – BUT THEORY IS FOR NERRRRRRDS!" Brawly roared. "My Hariyama's Thick Fat stops such sneaky onslaughts!"

"Why didn't you tell me it had that ability?!" Kris yelled at her bag.

"_You never asked_," came the muffled answer.

"Whatever," Kris grumbled. "Croc, Hydro Pump!"

"Hariyama, Body Slam!"

Even as Croc fired water at the Hariyama with intense pressure, Hariyama's body soaked the attack easily and charged at Croc, flattening the water-type under its massive weight as it slammed Croc to the ground. As Hariyama got up, Croc stayed down, its limbs moving oddly slowly and twitchily.

"Looks like I done _**paralyzed **_your Pokémon, princess!" Brawly bragged. "Let me fix that for you – Hariyama, _**Smmmmmmelling Salts**_!"

With Croc helpless, Hariyama could get the drop on it and smack it with its humongous hand as hard as it could. The attack got Croc back on its feet, curing its paralysis... but only for a few seconds before Croc collapsed again, now unable to battle.

Kris was forced to return Croc and face the truth: Brawly had won. After the battle, Brawly congratulated Kris for a good battle in a normal voice, informing that his boasting was just a show he liked to put on to put challengers to the spot – he had taken Kris' confusion as being unfazed by his tactic. As Brawly himself escorted Kris back to the entrance, she had time to ruminate over what happened.

_And more importantly: _how_ the hell did that happen?_

Kris had gotten to the third round of the Silver Conference, getting past a powerful trainer who had eight gym badges and a _frickin' gym leader_. Therefore, wasn't it pure logic to assume that Kris was better than a gym leader? And yet, she had failed, barely denting the Hariyama, no less.

Kris had to rationalize this somehow. Perhaps Brawly was just a better-than average gym leader, like Morty and Clair back in Johto. Except Kris had defeated Morty and tied against Clair... so how could she suffer such a crushing defeat against some small town surfer dude? Worse yet, Brawly didn't know anything about the strange writing Kris had showed him, so the trip had been completely pointless.

At the entrance, Wes was quick to notice the outcome from the look on Kris' face.

"Don't feel bad, Krissy," Wes remarked as the two stepped out of the gym and into the sunny outdoors. "You've just been slacking a bit during your little fun-time cruise aboard the S.S. Anne, that's all."

"_Slacking_?!" Kris snapped.

"I'd say 'slacking' is about right," said a female voice Kris didn't recognize.

Kris and Wes turned to look. A tall young woman who, while slender, had broad enough shoulders to look like she could easily beat Kris in arm wrestling leaned against the wall near the door of the gym. Her face obscured by a white and pink cap, she had long and curly brown hair tied at the back.

Kris and Wes stared at her.

"Um," Kris said, "can I help you, or-"

"Yes, you can," the girl said. "Why don't you ditch the Orrean candy boy so we can chat for a while?"

Wes scoffed. "What? Who is this?" he said with forced laughter. "Trust me, you don't want to start anything with me!"

The girl snorted in contempt. "'Start anything'? Are you serious? Apart from the fact that, you know, I'd kick your ass without even having to think about it, 'start anything', what are you, like twelve?"

"Ohoho, looks like we have a troublemaker," Wes chuckled and took his gloves off, glancing at Kris. "Don't worry, you just sit on back and let old Wes handle things!"

"Yeah, I don't care one way or another," Kris said, feeling only confusion – and slight gratitude at the mystery woman for talking smack to Wes.

Wes rolled his sleeves back and took a step closer to the girl, who kept leaning against the wall calmly. Wes spat on his hands and rubbed them together, preparing for a fist fight.

"Please, you'll just embarrass yourself," the girl said. "But since you insist, then give me your best shot... Wes."

Wes paused, lower his arms, eyes wide and mouth slightly open as he stared at the mystery woman. Kris frowned at him.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing!" Wes snapped. "She just... I just remembered something. All right, whoever you are, you're obviously trying to mug us or something, and that ain't happening – _bring it on_!"

Wes took about three steps towards the girl, who easily sidestepped around him and grabbed his arm with one hand and jammed index and middle finger of her other hand into Wes' nostrils, causing him to yell out in pain. With a move so quick that Kris couldn't clearly see what the girl did, Wes was thrown on the ground and grabbed him in a half nelson, pushing Wes' face down in the sand with her free hand.

"Wait!" came the muffled yell from Wes. "I know who you – ow – are now!"

"I'm sure," the girl remarked and lifted her head to look at Kris – she had blue eyes and a cheerful disposition, as she hadn't even broken a sweat taking Wes down. "Anyway, like I was going to say, it's nice to meet you Kris. Yeah, I know your name," she said quickly when Kris was about to ask. "I watched the Silver Conference. I'd say you're actually a little better than average – a little. Oh, I'm Hilda, by the way – from east Unova, born and raised."

"What do you want?" Kris asked warily. "Because I have really mixed feelings at the moment."

"I bet," Hilda laughed, ignoring Wes' pathetic attempts to squirm free from her hold. "This guy can't help but to bug the crap out of people."

"You know each other?"

"Kris, there's something wrong!" Wes yelled, sounding like his mouth was filled with sand. "She was at-"

"We worked together – _once_," Hilda said grudgingly and tightened her grip. "But good old Wesley is not why I'm here – nor is the fine beach weather, though that's a plus. I came here to see you, Kris."

Kris felt fairly humbled. Not only had Wes tracked her down even after such a long time, much as Kris wished he hadn't, but now other people were looking for her, too. Still, Kris kept her distance – she had no desire to end up face down on the ground. Hilda spotted Kris' hesitation and smiled.

"Yeah, you don't exactly trust me, right?" she asked. "That's good – means you're not a total dumbass, at least. Well, I guess you could say I'm here as a talent scout. You got into the tournament because you completed the quests the dragon clan had laid out to you, right?"

"Yup, got through all of them," Kris said proudly.

"...nah, you really didn't," Hilda remarked. "You got through _one _of them. There are eight in total, all meant to test a 'virtue' or whatever. What the hell were they... honesty, compassion, valor, justice, sacrifice, honor, spirituality and..." Hilda snapped her fingers to remember. Wes managed to raise his head and spit some sand off his mouth, but Hilda soon pressed him down again, to Kris' amusement. "Oh yeah, humility. Y'know, so basically the opposites of fun."

"One?" Kris said in disbelief. "But... that can't be right."

"Ahh, don't feel bad," Hilda said. "Few even get that far, even that famous kid from Kanto could say he got past like four or five, at max. But hey, you should totally keep at it, though – at least one more."

"Is it showing compassion if I tell you to let him go?" Kris said. "I mean, it was funny at first, but it's getting more pathetic by the minute."

"Trust me, unleashing this guy into the world is the total opposite," Hilda laughed.

However, she did let Wes go for a second. Wes lifted his head again and tried to turn to yell expletives at Hilda, but Hilda sat on his back and twisted his arm behind his back instead. Wes gritted his teeth, but kept quiet.

"Now, I wouldn't worry about that mushy stuff if I were you – you don't seem all that virtuous, if you don't mind me saying," Hilda continued. When Kris frowned at her, she laughed. "Ahh, don't give me that, who here is? I'm not, and this guy," Hilda ruffled Wes' hair condescendingly, "totally isn't. I mean, it's all pretty abstract, and you can throw that last one out of the window – I'm not expecting you to do this for the warm fuzzies."

Kris cocked an eyebrow at her. "But?"

"If you get past one more trial," Hilda said alluringly, "then Champion Alder will take you in as an apprentice."

Kris was stunned, managing to complete ignore Wes' plight and grunting under Hilda. Granted, Alder was not as high on her list of idols as Lance and Cynthia were, but still... that gym leader back there had bragged about being trained by an Elite Four member. To be actually trained by the Unova League Champion – she'd able to crush _anyone_ who dared step in her way.

"Fuh... for real?" Kris stuttered uncertainly. "You really mean that? This is... wow, I mean, he must have seen me at the tournament and-"

Hilda laughed loudly and condescendingly at that, making Kris even more uncertain.

"I'm sorry," Hilda said, still chuckling to herself, "but that was... that was good, kid, really, I thought you were going to just stand there and be boring all day."

"I was – I mean, yeah, I'm a riot," Kris said and forced a laugh out of herself.

Hilda lowered her head and looked at Kris under her raised eyebrows.

"Seriously, now," she said. "He doesn't even remember you anymore, I bet. Do you have any idea how many tournaments he oversees and visits a year? I mean, right now he's in Ever Grande City preparing for the Hoenn League. I was brought along to act as his bodyguard on the trip here, and until he decides to return, I didn't have much to do, so I figured I'd get this out of the way."

"So that's what you've been doing," Wes grunted, finally daring to open his mouth again, apparently. "Wait – what does a guy like that need a bodyguard for?"

"Oh, hey, you can still talk!" Hilda exclaimed in fake surprise and ruffled Wes' hair again. "He never used to shut up," she told Kris. "You're a pretty sharp boy, aren't you, Wesley? That's going to bite you in the ass some day."

Hilda grinned and finally let go of Wes, stepping away from him and allowing him to get up, his dignity in shreds, though, his coat covered in dust and sand, along with his face, which he started wiping frantically. When he was done, he turned to glare at Hilda.

"Seriously, what are you doing here?" he asked. "The last time I saw you was-" Wes glanced at Kris, "-not in the best possible shape."

"Hey, it's been a year, hasn't it?" Hilda said casually.

"One year, one month and five days," Wes said bitterly.

"Adorable," Hilda said and flicked Wes on the forehead playfully. She turned to look at Kris. "Anyway, I didn't come here to talk about myself. And besides, I need to confirm you're even worth the effort. I mean, look at you!"

Kris looked at herself, looking a bit offended.

"Wha... what am I supposed to look at?" she asked sadly.

"C'mon, don't take things so seriously all the time!" Hilda said and gave Kris a playful nudge. "I was just asking how you've prepared yourself for the Hoenn League – I'm assuming that's why you're here, right?"

"That's one reason..." Kris muttered. "Well, I didn't have _too_ much time to prepare, I spent three months sailing the seas, having to work my way to Hoenn."

Hilda nodded. "That's good – so many Pokémon trainers forget the heart of things. The code of the Pokémon trainers, if you want."

"What the huh?" Kris wondered. "Code?"

"An unwritten rule – mostly because those who don't discover it are not suited for trainer material," Hilda explained. "Even I had to discover that during my own little 'journey' three years ago. Why do you think we're out here? Do you think society works if just wander around, battling people for cash?"

"Um... no?" Kris suggested unsurely.

"Pokémon training is a valued skill, Kris," Hilda said. "Sure, most people own Pokémon, either a little Furfrou they can stick ribbons on and show off to their friends or a Ponyta that helps the plow fields – that's how things work. But only professional Pokémon trainers can handle multiple, powerful Pokémon and get them to their peak. Competitive fighting is in their blood, that's why there are trainers, leagues and tournaments. But while you get plenty of freedoms, there's a trade-off."

"Like what?" Wes scoffed.

Hilda paid no attention to him, as she focused on Kris. "Pokémon trainers exist to help people. If you become a gym leader, you have to protect your town. If you're a Champion, you have to defend your region. If you join organizations like the E4 Task Force or Holon Security, you'll have to be ready to use you Pokémon to kill, if necessary. And even a regular, wandering trainer has to stop and help if they can – that's just the way it is."

Kris had nodded throughout Hilda's sermon, while Wes had looked incredulous on the background, rolling his eyes at what Hilda was saying but once again going ignored.

"I have to see if you're up for that," Hilda said pointedly. "Show me why I should be interested in _you_, who came in eighth place at the Silver Conference, as opposed to that girl you lost to who came in fourth... what was her name... brown hair, dorky hat – oh, right, Lyra! Why shouldn't I just march up to her and offer _her_ the position?"

"She's in Hoenn?!" Kris exclaimed.

Hilda crossed her arms and gazed at Kris with a knowing smile. Kris cursed not being able to keep her head cool.

"You'll choose me," Kris said tensely, "because she's _nothing_ compared to me. _I_ was the one who fought Team Rocket the most and _I _beat the Masked Man, not _her_."

Hilda nodded. "I would have gotten the point with less emphasis – but I like that attitude. By the way, can you guys give me a lift? If you're headed to Slateport, that'd be great."

"How did you even get here in the first place?" Wes wondered.

"Swam," Hilda said calmly.

Kris and Wes stared at her incredulously. Hilda smirked.

"Ahh, almost had you there!" she teased. "No, my Samurott brought me here."

"Samurott..." Wes muttered. "Um, Hilda, are you-"

"But I don't wanna stress it out, plus it's not safe to go around the water routes now," Hilda said casually. "There's been some reports about people in freaky blue pirate uniforms... I think I saw a couple of them heading towards the Granite Cave. Weird, huh?"

Kris' face hardened. "Crap... Hilda?"

"Yeah?"

"You say you're a Pokémon trainer, too?" Kris asked. "Then - can you help us out?"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Granite Cave, Hoenn**_

Iris and May had wandered around the cave for an hour, the narrow beam of the flashlight being the only source of light in the pitch-black darkness. A hiker near the entrance had warned them about the darkness, but had also confirmed that Steven had arrived there earlier in search of rare stones, having stayed at Dewford for a good week now. Still, neither of them could really be afraid, especially as they chattered enthusiastically about Pokémon, May wanting Iris to tell her everything she knew about Pokémon battles.

Literally _everything_. Iris' mouth was incredibly dry at this point.

However, as they walked through a narrow tunnel, they noticed a Pokémon blocking their way. The Pokémon was a small, cutesy, yellow one with red eyes and lots of black hair.

"Huh – haven't seen one of those before," May commented as she spotted the Pokémon. "Torchic and Shroomish need some experience, but that ain't even worth my time."

She started to approach the Pokémon while Iris stayed still, wondering where she had seen that Pokémon before.

"You, we're in a hurry, here," May told the Pokémon. "Shoo!"

"Wait!" Iris yelled.

She lunged forward and grabbed May by her shirt, pulling her to safety just as the Pokémon turned around and extended its 'hair', which turned out to be a pair of enormous jaws filled with big, sharp teeth that it tried to chomp May with. May only seemed mildly surprised to see that.

"That's Mawile, the Deceiver Pokémon, a Steel/Fairy-type," Iris explained. "They lurk in dark caves, fooling opponents with their cutesy appearance before they reveal their jaws and chow down!"

"I ain't much for fairies," May said as she pulled a Poké Ball from her bag, "but a Steel-type sounds just perfect for my team. Stay back, Iris, I'll handle this."

"Be my guest," Iris said with a shudder. "I _hate_ Fairy-types. I only heard about them a few months ago when I saw Kris battling one at the Silver Conference. Then I battled a girl who owned a Granbull at the S.S Anne. It looked like my Fraxure could easily beat it, but then..." Iris gulped. "Just do something!"

"You're weird," May commented, sending out her Shroomish. "So... any thoughts?"

"On what?" Iris asked, hiding behind May for safety.

"Best ways for capture – should I pummel it and soften it for a Poké Ball, or...?"

"You could paralyze it, but a Pokémon that slow won't mind much," Iris pondered. "You should try to immobilize it and wear it down a little!"

"I know just the trick," May said. "Leech Seed!"

As the Mawile tried to grab Shroomish with its jaws, Shroomish fired a bunch of seeds at it. They then sprouted into vines upon contact, the vines trapping the Mawile and making it glow red, draining its energy to Shroomish. When it was immobilized, May tossed a Poké Ball at the Mawile. It was converted into energy as the ball struck it, and after some shaking, the capture was successful.

"Ain't even a thing!" May bragged as she picked her new teammate's Poké Ball up. "Nicely done, Shroomish!" she added and returned it.

Iris sighed with relief. "Good job," she told May. "Now we just have to find Steven and-"

The rest of Iris' sentence was drowned out by the sounds of heavy machinery. It sounded like a powerful drill was being operated right beneath her feet – and indeed, seconds later, the cave's floor crumbled beneath Iris and May, sending them plummeting down.

The two found themselves in the floor beneath, but instead of darkness, they bathed in light thanks to the multitude of lamps hanging from iron cables attached to the stone walls. Moreover, they were also surrounded by a bunch of Team Aqua grunts, instantly recognizable from their blue bandannas and striped shirts, the symbols on their bandannas identical to the one Shelly had worn. There was also a barrel-chested man in a uniform that slightly different from the others' who had long, wavy black hair and an enormous square jaw.

"Tch, that's a real hazard," he said calmly, observing the new hole in the ceiling. "Couldn't you be a bit more careful?" he scolded a grunt.

"Sorry, Mr. Tabitha," the grunt said.

"Ow," Iris said simply, rubbing her head as she got up on her feet. "Your name's Tabitha?" she asked the black-haired man.

"What of it?" he asked defensively. "Also, hi, you're kind of interrupting our work-"

"You're Team Aqua," Iris said warily, hand ready on Fraxure's Poké Ball as she glared at Tabitha. "Now I know why that Mawile attacked – what are you doing over here?"

"Yeah, we are, okay, you got us," Tabitha continued nonchalantly. "We're just minding our business here, though – the bosses told us to look for something called the Enigma Stone, so that's all there-"

"_Team Aqua_!" May yelled as she got up too, pointing at Tabitha's uniform.

"Yes, I think we've established that," Tabitha said.

"What about all the Pokémon in this cave?" Iris asked. "Isn't the drilling and lights going to disturb them?"

"That's why we're going to relocate them," Tabitha said condescendingly.

Iris turned to look at where Tabitha was looking, noticing cages full of small Pokémon stacked in the darker corners of the cave. There were plenty of Aron, Makuhita and Geodude locked up in the cages, plus one cage was strictly for Zubat, about dozen of them stuffed into the same, cramped space. Perhaps they had resisted before, but now, all of the Pokémon had resorted to just apathetically leaning against each other.

"See?" Tabitha said warmly. "No harm, no foul, so if you could just skidaddle your merry way-"

"Like hell we will!" May yelled, grabbing a Poké Ball of her own, which made the Aqua Grunts nearby tense up, though Tabitha signaled them to be still. "You hurt these Pokémon, you caused me to fall on my ass and get dirt on my favorite outfit – and _you're stopping me from delivering my letter_!"

"Uh, May," Iris said meekly, "perhaps we should-"

May quickly sent out her new Mawile to the battle. As soon as it was out of its Poké Ball, it glared at the surrounding Team Aqua members, opening its massive jaws ready. Sighing theatrically, Tabitha snapped his fingers, prompting two Aqua grunts to confront May and two others to do the same for Iris, sending out two Corphish and two Sealeo, while Iris did the same for her Fraxure, backing against May as she did so.

"You had to use _that _thing," Iris grumbled at her.

"I wanna see how well it fights," May said calmly. "These guys are not even a blip on my screen!"

"Next time this happens, I'll do the talking," Iris sighed. "Fraxure, Dual Chop!"

"Mawile... um..."

"Use Iron Defense!" Iris suggested.

"Right – Iron Defense!"

Fraxure's swift Dual Chop managed to hit both the Corphish and Sealeo it was up against and move out of the way as they tried to attack it while Mawile sat still and hardened itself, the attacks launched at it just bouncing off.

"Now use Play Rough!" Iris advised. "Fraxure, Slash!"

May relayed the order, the Mawile's jaws turning to a devilish smirk as it lunged at the hapless Corphish and Sealeo, engaging them into a cartoony brawl which quickly dispatched both of them. Meanwhile, Fraxure blocked the incoming Sealeo's Body Slam with Slash, knocking the Sealeo out. The remaining Corphish fell easily when Fraxure fired a Dragon Pulse attack at it.

Tabitha's ever-present pleasant smile faded a bit as he saw his Aqua Grunts fall as Mawile and Fraxure attacked them next, easily knocking them to the ground and keeping them pinned down by sheer intimidation. Sighing, he sent out his own Mightyena, a somewhat canine-looking Pokémon with black, shaggy fur.

"Mighty, these brats are interrupting our woooo-ooork~" Tabitha whined. "Please finish them off, thanks!"

Tabitha's Mightyena barked and charged at Mawile, attempting to bite it... only to end up breaking one of its teeth and howling miserably, backing away from the Mawile in fear.

"All right, I think that's enough!" Iris said firmly. "I don't want either your Pokémon or the ones in the cages to get hurt, so just leave this place and we promise that we-"

"Will kick your asses to Sinnoh and back, yeah!" May cheered. "Bring it on!"

"That wasn't what I was going to say!" Iris protested.

"_Oi_!" a harsh voice suddenly yelled. "What's all this, then?"

Iris and May turned to look behind them, May cursing to herself as she noticed Aqua Admin Shelly having arrived to the cave, eight Aqua Grunts standing behind her, along with about two dozen Pokémon, mainly Corphish, Carvanha and Golbat.

"Oh, Ms. Shelly, thank goodness!" Tabitha wailed and ran to the newly arrived admin. "We weren't taking a break, these kids jumped in the way of our work, honest!"

"You sodding twats again?!" Shelly snarled. "You must be utterly barmy to think of crossing us again after our last scuffle!"

"You mean when I managed to humiliate your two Pokémon with my freshly caught Shroomish?" May taunted.

Shelly was unamused.

"All right, you expendable minions!" she ordered. "Eff them up!"

Iris and May prepared themselves, Fraxure and Mawile stepping up and preparing to fight, but they were outnumbered twelve to one. Iris was acutely aware of the situation, but at the moment, their options were to either beat them or be beaten. The only escape was upwards, but neither she nor May had flying Pokémon. Behind them was just solid wall.

However, the supposedly sturdy behind them soon exploded, and a male voice called out to them:

"_YOU TWO, GET DOWN_!"

Iris was quick to react, pulling May with her as she tackled Mawile and Fraxure, managing to catch them by surprise too and get them on the ground just as a barrage of rocks flew past their heads and at the advancing Aquas, who panicked and scattered. From the new hole in the wall, Aggron, an enormous black bipedal Pokémon with steel-gray armor covering parts of its body stomped out, slowly but menacingly advancing on the Aqua Grunts and their Pokémon still up.

With the Aquas distracted by the Aggron, a young bishounen of a man with light steel blue hair and eyes calmly made his way in through the new hole in the wall, gesturing at Iris and May to follow him.

"Holy crap, it's him!" May exclaimed. "Hey, Mr. Steven! I have a-"

Steven shushed her. "No time," he said curtly. "Come on!"

Leaving his Aggron to fight, Steven led Iris, May, Fraxure and Mawile into a narrow tunnel, but the footsteps of a few Aqua Grunts in pursuit could still be heard. Thinking quickly, Iris sent out her Excadrill.

"I know how we can lose 'em!" she said. "Excadrill, dig a tunnel for us!"

Nodding, Excadrill prepared the massive blades on its hands. The blades then started spinning like two enormous drills, which it used to bore into the tunnel's wall. Steven cringed at the sight, but didn't protest as Excadrill successfully started carving a slanted uphill tunnel. Iris and May recalled their Pokémon and followed, having to crawl their way through the tunnel, Steven coming in last.

"Can't they just follow us here?" May grunted as she crawled after Iris, almost hitting her head as she stopped to talk.

"Probably, but I'm sure they also blocked any exits we could have used," Iris answered, following Excadrill, who kept carving its way through the solid rock like it was cardboard. "Will your Aggron be okay?" she asked Steven.

"I've trained it for a good eight years, now," Steven answered proudly. "I instructed it to release all the Pokémon the Aquas had captured. Even if they somehow beat Aggron, I doubt those Pokémon will take their abuse sitting down."

"Good," May said. "Now, what was I about to say, I was asked to deliver-"

May was interrupted by daylight pouring into their hastily made tunnel, Excadrill having drilled its way up to the surface. Iris, May and Steven followed suit, climbing out of the tunnel and catching in the sights around them. They had arrived on top of the seaside cliff where the Granite Cave had formed into, both the ocean and Dewford Town in full view.

Taking in a deep breath, Steven finally made his formal introduction.

"Sorry for butting in," he said simply as he shook hands with both Iris and May, "but I just couldn't sit back and watch. I came here to find some rare stones, specifically something called the 'Enigma Stone'."

"That's what Team Aqua was looking for!" Iris said.

Steven nodded. "I heard," he said bitterly. "To do that to the Pokémon that dwell here just to find that thing – even my father would think twice about that. I had no idea Team Aqua had become such an infestation."

Suddenly, Steven smiled and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Oh, sorry, I almost forgot," he said. "My name is Steven Stone. I'm just an amateur geologist today."

"Yeah, we know!" May said hastily, looking like she was about to burst. "You used to be the frickin' Pokémon League Champion! It's such an honor to meet you."

Steven just sighed and turned away, though he put on a polite smile.

"Well, that's an honor, I suppose," he said, "but, truth to be told, I let my friend Wallace take over the job for this reason exactly. I don't want people making a huge fuss about me."

"Can I say my business now?" May asked. "I have this-"

"Sorry, May, but I have to ask – what _is_ the Enigma Stone, anyway?" Iris asked Steven. "I've never heard of it."

"That's kind of why it is," Steven chuckled, "an 'enigma'. Nobody knows. It's a legend among people in Hoenn who share my interests – both of them," he cracked. "If it even exists, I doubt it's anything but a rare jewel that people in the past associated with some mystical power, but I do admit that I'm still curious."

May glared at Iris. "Now?" she asked, and Iris nodded. "Okay. Mr. Steven, I have this-"

"_Found you!_"

"Damn it!"

Shelly, Tabitha and a squad of five Team Aqua Grunts, one of them using his blue bandanna to cover his face, had arrived to the cliff and were now looking down at Iris, May and Steven. They were accompanied by over a dozen Pokémon, Tabitha's Mightyena included – it looked practically furious over chipping its tooth and was viciously growling at May.

"Oi, lookie here, mates!" Shelly taunted. "The Hoenn champ himself came to witness Team Aqua's rise to power!"

"Whatever!" May taunted right back. "We have Steven Stone with us now, so you might as well throw yourselves back into whatever holes you crawled out of, 'coz he's gonna teach you a thing or two about-"

"Actually," Steven interrupted as he glared up at the Aqua members, looking rather pale and sweaty now that Iris and May got a better look of him, "I'm still waiting for Aggron to come back. I only took two Pokémon here, and my Skarmory is resting from its flight at the Pokémon Center."

Iris and May stared at him. "A-are you serious?!" May yelled.

"On top of that, I'm not exactly at a hundred percent, anyway," Steven muttered. "So I'll have to let you guys to fight instead..."

"Well, we have to try!" Iris said firmly. "Excadrill, use-"

"_Don't bother, __little one, __you might as well sit on your hands now that _I'm _here_."

Iris, May and Steven gazed around them, wondering where the voice of the woman who had yelled at them came from. The Aqua members did the same, Shelly holding off the attack as she tried to get a better look.

"_You know, I'm surprised_," the mystery woman said. "_I though that a former Hoenn Champion would be made of tougher stuff. __I hope early retirement hasn't softened you up too much, Mr. Stone – you used to be quite the hero back in the day_."

"Oh, bollocks to it all, I ain't going to let those little tossers interfere anymore!" Shelly snapped. "Soldiers, beat the crap out 'em!"

"_Frenzy Plant_!"

Gigantic, thick roots with spikes on them suddenly emerged from the rocky ground from under the Aquas feet, smacking both the trainers and their Pokémon around as a long, green and regal-looking serpentine Pokémon with red eyes grabbed an Aqua Grunt into a stranglehold and squeezed him. Iris recognized the Pokémon as Serperior – a Unovan species.

"_Now I'm feeling it's the time for... Blast Burn_!"

The grunts and Pokémon who had dodged the roots were thrown around by an ensuing fiery explosion caused by a roaring Emboar, who punched Tabitha's Mightyena off the cliff with its massive fist.

"_And finally... Hydro Cannon_!"

A massive ball of water was fired at the Aquas still on their feet by a Samurott who had climbed on the cliff, Tabitha getting caught up and thrown away by the sheer force of the water pressure.

In the end, only Shelly and the disguised Aqua Grunt remained, the latter having expertly dodged every single attack and didn't even have a graze on him.

The trainer of the three Unova starters soon climbed up the cliff as well – a tall, brown-haired girl who seemed to be utterly fearless when confronting the Aqua members.

"And what's with the pirate gear, anyway?" she remarked nonchalantly as she passed Shelly and the disguised grunt by like it was nothing. She then turned to look at Iris, May and Steven. "Oh, hi guys, name's Hilda, your friends are on the way, but they need some serious fitness training. You wouldn't even believe."

Indeed, Kris and Wes soon followed, along with Kris' Honchkrow, badly out of breath and barely managing to climb up.

"We're getting clobbered!" Shelly complained. "Lunick!" she yelled at the disguised grunt. "You know what to do."

"Yes, ma'am," came the muffled answer through Lunick's bandanna.

Reacting quicker than even Hilda could have prepared for, Lunick sent out a Pokémon of his own, though it was not a water-type or any of the other Pokémon Team Aqua had used. It was a green, reptilian Pokémon with a long neck and a tail that looked like it was made of a palm-tree branch, filled with razor-sharp leaves.

"A Sceptile?" May muttered. "But isn't that-"

Lunick nodded at the Sceptile, who nodded back before charging at Hilda's Serperior. Using the blades on its arms that suddenly glowed light blue, Sceptile slashed the Serperior with them in an X-like pattern, hurting the Serperior and leaping gracefully out of the way before it could retaliate.

"Ahh, a decent challenge," Hilda remarked, sounding outright pleased, ignoring the attack on her Serperior. "Samurott, Emboar, take it down!"

But Lunick didn't even have to use verbal commands – a mere gesture of his hand made Sceptile leap into the air and whack the ground hard with its tail, causing a seismic shock wave that knocked Samurott and Emboar off-balance. Finally, the Sceptile struck Samurott with the blades on its tail, expertly avoiding Samurott's horn by sliding underneath it and hitting the water-type's exposed belly.

"Honchkrow, we have to help!" Kris ordered. "Use-"

But Sceptile had already left – its intention wasn't to knock Hilda's Pokémon out, merely distract them long enough for it to leap at Iris, May and Steven.

"Be ready, Excadrill!" Iris said. "It's a grass-type, so use-"

Again, Sceptile moved at a blinding speed towards Iris and her Excadrill. Iris shrieked and covered her head with her arms, but Sceptile wasn't going for her. In a bright green blur, Excadrill was knocked out while the Sceptile grabbed Steven in its arms and carried him away. Sceptile's trainer was quick to follow: Lunick kept up with his Pokémon seemingly effortlessly, moving in long, graceful leaps like a Pokémon.

Shelly, the only Aqua member left, chuckled at the group's dumbfounded expressions.

"That lad's our secret weapon, he is," Shelly boasted. "And when the rest of Hoenn hears about how we captured Steven Stone 'imself, they'll-"

"Like hell!" May yelled. "I have a letter to deliver!"

May followed after Lunick's path, surprising even Shelly with how quick on her feet she was. Sighing, Kris whistled at her Honchkrow.

"We can't let May get herself hurt – I guess," she told it. "After 'em!"

Honchkrow swooped down, allowing Kris to grab its legs. Having already done this many times before, Kris' weight didn't even slow Honchkrow down as it flew after May and Lunick and into the forests surrounding the cliffs. May had disappeared somewhere in the bushes, but Kris was quick to find Lunick, Sceptile and a fainted Steven hiding on a clearing. Even the mysterious Lunick was surprised when Kris and Honchkrow came at them from the sky, but he didn't budge even as Kris landed almost right next to them.

"All right, you've had your fun," Kris said confidently – losing to Brawly had made her desperate to beat at least _someone _today. "Let go of the nice man and give up so we can all get out of here today!"

Lunick motioned at Sceptile to stay still, removing both the bandanna covering his face as well as the standard Team Aqua bandanna keeping his hair down. Kris frowned as Lunick revealed his face, allowing Kris to see it properly, along with his long, thick dark hair, a red headband keeping it from falling on his face. Lunick was taller and more broad-shouldered than the other Aqua Grunts Kris had seen, but was also younger than Kris had expected, probably being only in his early twenties.

Kris narrowed her eyes and tried to get a better look of him. Hazy memories came back to her mind, but she was unable to connect them to the man standing before her. Who was this guy?

"I have no intention of hurting this man," Lunick spoke up, causing Kris to flinch, "nor you, for that matter. And I don't wish to fight a rookie like you."

"Who are you calling a-" Kris paused mid-yell. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"I only hurt those who stand in our way," Lunick continued and pulled out a short sword with a curved blade from a sheath on his belt, keeping it at the ready – he definitely had the pirate theme down. "For the glory of Team Aqua!"

"Uh, yeah, I was going to ask you about that," Kris said, eyeing the sword warily. "What _exactly_ is it that you guys stand for?"

Lunick tilted his head. "Were our intentions not clear?"

"Not really – I mean, you're pretty vague and act like henchmen from some Saturday morning cartoon. No, wait, have you seen Proteam Omega? There's a guy in that show that dressed up _just_ like you – maybe that's why you look familiar."

Lunick looked even more confused. "Proteam... Omega?"

Kris was also bewildered. The man had a strange accent, unlike Kris had ever heard before, and Kris had spent three months on a ship filled with people from dozens of different corners of the world. Lunick recovered faster, though.

"It doesn't matter what you believe!" he said harshly. "We only wish to create more living space for Pokémon and force humanity to stop their careless expansion!"

"So... why did you have to cage up all those wild Pokémon to do that?" Kris wondered.

"...what?"

"Yeah, Hilda told me she saw you guys rounding up Pokémon from the Granite Cave and locking them up. Not to mention all that drilling you did, which is bound to have ecological ramifications – or something or other, I'm not an expert on that. If I were a Pokémon Ranger, I'd probably give you a lecture about it, but it's still not very cool."

"...you talk a lot," Lunick said simply.

"Yeah, it's weird, isn't it?" Kris babbled, almost forgetting the situation she was in. "A few months ago I barely talked with anyone and now you can't shut me up at all!"

"Does this mean, that... you're a defender of Pokémon?"

"Ehh," Kris said and shrugged. "I just don't feel right having you guys running around causing havoc. I mean, Pokémon are pretty cool, but _sheesh_, it's like life revolves around them sometimes."

Frowning at Kris, Lunick lowered his sword slightly, looking contemplative.

"What you said might be true," he said, "but I still believe in what we stand for. I have to confront our leader about this."

"Right, your leader," Kris said and nodded. "You know, that person whose name is...?"

"And this man?" Lunick asked, ignoring Kris' question and nodding at Steven, who was still in Sceptile's grasp. "Does he share your ideals? Is he also a Pokémon lover?"

"Eww... I mean, yeah, sure, I think so," Kris said. "Does this mean you'll let him go?"

"For now. Sceptile, let-"

"_STEEEEVEEEEEEEEEN_!"

Something red suddenly appeared on the clearing, swinging from tree to tree on vines with one arm, holding a Torchic in the other. It was May, her face smeared with some kind of war painting – essentially dirt and other stuff she found on the ground. Torchic fired an Ember attack on Lunick's Sceptile, blasting tiny bolts of fire from its mouth at the grass-type, forcing it to drop Steven to block the attacks.

Then, Torchic began to glow and grow bigger and meaner, its tiny chicken legs getting stronger, with sharp nails on each toe, while its wings also expanded from little stubby ones to arm-like appendages with three long claws on each one.

"All right!" May cheered. "Combusken, use Flame Burst!"

Sceptile was taken by surprise as Torchic's evolution spat streams of fire in every direction, almost hitting Kris and Honchkrow as well. The Sceptile looked at its trainer for guidance, but Lunick just shifted his gaze between Kris and May uncertainly. May took advantage of this hesitation and roughly snapped a branch off a nearby tree, using it as a weapon as she charged at Lunick.

But Kris grabbed the stick away from May just in time, causing both May and her Combusken to turn and glare at her.

"That's enough," Kris said plainly. "Lunick! Tell your friends at Team Aqua to withdraw. Just remember that we're _letting_ you go this time. Don't cause anymore trouble!"

"What are you talking about?!" May snapped, trying to grab the branch back, but Kris held it out of her reach. "They're criminals! They deserve what's coming to 'em!"

"They'll go down eventually," Kris said. "But no one except them has been hurt today – and I think we need to tend to him," Kris nodded in the unconscious ex-champ's direction. "Just go away, Lunick."

Reluctantly, Lunick put his saber away and withdrew Sceptile before disappearing into the bushes. May tried to give chase, but Kris grabbed her arm. May easily wriggled herself free and yelled at Kris, but Kris wasn't listening. Instead, she kept staring to the distance. She now remembered where she had seen Lunick – but couldn't even believe it herself.

Steven's Aggron had returned from the Granite Cave and had easily dispatched of Aqua Grunts trying to fight it while releasing the captive Pokémon. Team Aqua had retreated to the boats they had hidden all over the island, fleeing to wherever their hideout was. Soon enough, the group reunited back at the docks, Steven having regained consciousness. May had immediately delivered the letter to him, and was now chatting with him enthusiastically while Wes and Hilda were apparently exchanging pleasantries a little away from the others – or, to be more accurate, Wes was talking to Hilda, who lay on the sand and ate her sandwich, seemingly not hearing what Wes was telling her.

Kris was sitting on the beach slightly away from the others with Iris, confident that she was with the one person who'd actually believe her story.

"So this has been happening since we were at the Ruins of Alph?" Iris wondered.

Kris nodded. "These weird dreams keep on coming, and just when I think I'm forgetting 'em... BAM! I wake up sweating after a yet another one."

"So," Iris said, trying to wrap her head around the situation, "is it always the same dream, or...?"

Kris shook her head. "Sometimes it's the same, sometimes it almost like... continues from where the previous one left off. And they're so vivid, too. But it's weird... I'm not seeing them through my own eyes, or from the perspective of anyone else. I'm observing them somehow, sometimes from the air, sometimes from ground level... it's like I'm some hack film director experimenting with different angles, with equally nauseating results."

"Dreams are fascinating," Iris said wistfully. "Like, I think I know what you mean... have you ever felt like maybe dreams were prophetic, or you were living a past life, or felt like you were actually there, or felt like your mind had written a better movie than any screnwriter could have?"

"Usually my dreams are pretty boring," Kris admitted, smiling. "But, see, it doesn't feel like these are dreams – you remember how I collapsed after touching the walls there?"

"But still..." Iris scratched her head. "To say that this Team Aqua guys is actually-"

"He looks and sounds exactly like the guy I had visions of, and I'm sure he had the same name as well," Kris insisted. "And when we talked – it was like he wasn't from around here at all."

"Well, maybe our language is a second or third language for him," Iris suggested. "Ever think of that?"

"You don't believe me," Kris said. It wasn't a question.

Iris sighed, wringing her hands over the best way to phrase things. "It's... not that," she said. "I _believe_ that you believe it – don't get mad now," she said quickly.

"You suggesting I have a bad temper?!" Kris snapped, only to become aware that she was raising her voice and clasping her hands over her mouth.

Iris smiled. "Just think about it logically. Even assuming they had some ancient technology to record what happened there hundreds of years ago and somehow imprint to your mind, how can that same guy be here now?"

"We know time travel is possible, at least for Pokémon," Kris said. "Remember Celebi?"

"But neither of us saw it," Iris pointed out. "I mean, the Masked Man _thought_ he could use Celebi to go back and forward in time as he pleased, but he could have just heard some legend and assumed it to be true. I suppose we _could_ ask someone who was there. That Hilda girl told me that Lyra is in Hoenn now-"

"We're _not _asking _Lyra_ anything!" Kris said with finality.

When she realized she was almost yelling at Iris, who looked distraught at Kris' words, Kris buried her face in her hands.

"Sorry," she muttered. "You do what you want, but _I'm_ not asking her anything."

"I know you disagree, but it would be nice to see her," Iris said quietly. "She could be a great help to our mission as well..."

Kris thought about it, and Iris was right. She could and probably would be of help. Like what Kris had seen Lunick do, Lyra could give commands to her Pokémon without uttering a word, and had plenty of high-leveled ones at her disposal. And Lyra wouldn't miss a chance to try and upstage Kris – which was why Kris would steer clear of her until the Hoenn league, which was no doubt the reason Lyra was there in the first place.

She didn't have to answer anything to Iris, as Steven had finished talking with May, and was now making his way to the duo. Kris noticed that he was walking with a slight limp, and wondered what exactly was afflicting him.

"May was _very_ insistent on bringing me this," Steven said and smiled at Kris and Iris, showing the letter Mr. Stone had given. "I wish I had something better to thank her with, but at least I could give her a TM her Mawile could use."

"She has a Mawile now?" Kris asked Iris.

"A lot of stuff happened," Iris muttered hastily.

"She also told me you two wanted to talk to me," Steven continued.

"Yes!" Kris yelled out so loudly that some tourists walking along the beach turned to stare at her. "Sorry," she mumbled quietly. "But we've been looking for you for a long time now! You're a former Champion, right?"

"I think that has been established," Steven said, and though his tone remained benevolent, Kris and Iris got the sense that he didn't appreciate the subject for whatever reason.

"Um," Iris said carefully, "you said earlier that you quit because of people making a fuss... or something."

"I was young, and unprepared for the challenges of being a Champion," Steven admitted. "Everyone said I was good at Pokémon since I was young, but I didn't even want to become a Pokémon trainer in the first place. But I had the skill for it, and I didn't want to be useless, or a burden on anyone, so I went along that route."

"So what have you been doing since then?" Iris asked pleasantly.

"Training, mostly," Steven said with a shrug. "It's a lot more pleasant now that I can do it at my own pace – and the way my Pokémon want it, instead of what the league expects me. I've also been looking for stones, helping out the Mossdeep Space Center, occasionally stopping to help whoever needs me, that sort of thing."

Kris was reminded of what Hilda had told her about the 'code' of being a Pokémon trainer. And Steven, even though he looked like he sorely needed more iron in his diet, still insisted on traveling around, trying to make himself useful...

"Do you know of another 'wandering champ'?" Kris asked quietly. "You know, the one who broke your record of becoming the youngest Pokémon League Champion? That guy?"

Steven looked at Kris stoically, without blinking, though it was possible to register anything from his face.

"I met him," Steven admitted. "About a month ago, that is."

Kris and Iris tensed up, getting closer to Steven and looking around them as if they were discussing issues of national security.

"What did you talk about?" Kris asked Steven quietly.

"I'm sorry, he asked to keep it between us," Steven said firmly. "You're not the first ones to ask, you know."

Kris and Iris didn't feel too disappointed, though. They had partially expected the answer, because whatever he was doing, Red didn't want to be found. But this almost confirmed that he either was in Hoenn, or at least had visited the region. There was bound to be more clues to be found.

"We also wanted to ask you something else," Iris said and took one of the numerous papers containing the strange writing found on the Ruins of Alph from her bag, giving it to Steven. "I know this is kind of a long shot, but, can you-"

Unlike with Red, Steven's expression betrayed him quickly. He raised his eyebrows a little and snatched the paper from Iris with force, though he quickly tried to cover it up by giving the paper back to her gently.

"No," he said quickly, "but I've been looking into this as well... how much do you know?"

"Um... about what?" Iris asked, the question having confounded both her and Kris.

"May told me you were in Johto before this," Steven said quietly, gazing at both Kris and Iris contemplatively. "Is one of you the girl who participated in the trials?"

"Uh, yeah, me," Kris said.

"But I helped!" Iris said quickly. "I mean, not more than the rules allow, but still a little, as in-"

"It's okay," Steven said. "An essential part of the trials is to learn how to measure danger and know when one needs to ask for help – foolishly denying help is not strength, it's stupidity. But that would mean you know of the Legendary Pokémon Society?"

"Hell yeah!" Kris said. "I've met Lance and Morty and even Wallace already."

"And Eusine!" Iris reminded

"Yes, him too, unfortunately. But why do you-"

Steven showed Kris and Iris his badge, something none of the previous members of the Society had done. It was pretty stylish, mostly black with a Poké Ball emblem in the middle, surrounded by the stylized, golden letters 'L' and 'S'.

"Wait, if this society is so 'secret', why do you have a badge?" Iris wondered.

"Sadly, we have to keep the highest levels of government informed of our activities, especially since most of us are in high-ranking positions already," Steven explained. "The Society keeps close track of its members, and unless I put in my fingerprint in this badge once every day, it dissolves. But mostly, it's because having this badge feels cool – and we get discounts."

"I knew it!" Kris said. "I would love to have me one of those. I know it's a bit presumptuous to ask, but-"

"We're not accepting new members at this time," Steven said bluntly, crushing Kris' hopes with a single sentence. "Even then, I wouldn't recommend joining us, especially for someone so young. Joining this organization means devoting your whole life to it. You can't say you have a cousin's wedding to attend to, or an important sports event you want to see, and there is no retirement, no vacations and very little recognition for our efforts. Getting accepted means you have to go through an initiation ritual so brutal that I don't want to reminisce it... which doesn't exactly encourage leaving, either."

"If you think that way, why did you join?" Iris asked.

"Like I said – it's to make myself useful," Steven said, sounding almost melancholy as he spoke. "I want to feel like I'm helping, no matter how little is."

"Well, then," Iris said, "about the writing-"

"It would be wise if you stopped pursuing it," Steven said firmly. "We're already on the case, but it could involve a high risk. The Wise Trio and even the Elder himself are already focused on translating it, but new writing keeps popping up all the time."

Kris and Iris were even more confused, Iris putting the paper back in her bag. Seeing the disappointed expressions on the girls' faces, Steven smiled reassuringly.

"You helped a lot today, and I owe you for that," he said. "You're both promising trainers, so I would suggest training for the Hoenn League. I'm sure we'll meet each other there, and when we do, I'll have to repay you, somehow. For now, thank you so much, Iris and Kris. Also, about the whereabouts of Red..."

"You know where he is?!" Kris asked quickly.

"Even if I did, I wouldn't tell," Steven said, still smiling slyly. "I mean, he could be anywhere, at the underwater caves in the west, the Battle Frontier in the south, or even..." Steven stopped to scratch his nose. "... the Meteor Falls in the north."

Kris and Iris glanced at each other – Steven didn't say anything else, but Kris smiled back at him, signaling that she understood. Both of them got to shake hands with the former Champion, but before he got to head back to the Dewford Pokémon Center, Kris yelled out after him.

"One more thing, Steven!" she yelled. "How do you become a Pokémon master?!"

Kris knew what the answer was going to be even before asking, but still had a faint hope that it would be something else than-

"You have to figure it out yourself!" Steven answered. "Thanks again, and so long!"

_Well, damn_.

Kris turned away, and together with Iris, joined May, Wes and Hilda, the latter showing off her combat techniques to May by using Wes as a training mannequin. When he was confident that no one was looking, Steven took the letter from his father and ripped it to shreds without even opening it, letting the wind take the pieces into the sea.

* * *

**_A/N: I promise, no more chapters as long as this in the future. Thanks for reading so far, chapter five will be up soon!_**


	5. Within Me

**Chapter Five: _Within Me_**

_**Location: New Mauville, Hoenn**_

In the maze of corridors and machinery underneath Mauville City, grunts of Team Magma were patrolling around, accompanied by plenty of Mightyena, Golbat, Magcargo and Numel. The biggest consignment of grunts, about ten of them, had gathered into the generator room, where the old gym leader of Mauville City, Wattson, had been imprisoned and shackled into a thick steel pipe, a gag in his mouth. Wattson had to watch helplessly at the Magmas had purposefully overloaded New Mauville's generator, and were now nervously walking around the room, as if expecting something.

Eventually, Miscellaneous Expendable Henchman #8 came up to the grunt in charge, Slightly Less Useless Henchman #3, to report something.

"Sir," MEH#8 said. "We've heard no news from Tabitha. It appears he's vanished."

"And time is running out," SLUH#3 grumbled. "The boss was sure Team Aqua wouldn't miss this chance to boost their ego – especially after one of them was seen harassing a Devon employee earlier. Looks like no one is coming for this old bastard after all..."

"So what do we do now?" MEH#8 asked, unable to think on his own.

"Time for plan B," SLUH#3 said. "We send a ransom demand to the mayor of Mauville City – they give us the submarine once it's done or Mr. Wattson gets it."

"I may be just a nameless goon, but I know _they_ don't value human life all that much. If those Team Aqua bastards keep slandering us more, they'll have to send something bigger than a gym leader to fight us."

"Let them send whatever they want. There's no way they'll get in without us noticing, and if they do, all it takes is for me to make a little tweak to this generator and everything within a mile's radius to go _boom_!"

Their conversation was interrupted by a Magma Grunt suddenly running into the generator room, ignorant of the fact that he kept bumping into his colleagues and machinery, a terrified, glazed look in his eyes as he tried to report to SLUH#3.

"_Sir_!" the frightened grunt panted pathetically as he arrived. "There's... t-there's something..."

"Team Aqua?!" SLUH#3 asked immediately. "Or the police? What is it?!"

SLUH#3 grabbed the frightened grunt by his shoulders and shook, but the frightened grunt just stuttered and sobbed about something, nothing but vague, high-pitched squeaking coming out of his mouth.

"Damn it!" SLUH#3 grunted and pushed the frightened grunt away. "Go see what's going on!" he told MEH#8.

MEH#8 and his Golbat dashed out of the generator room and down the corridor to the observation room where the frightened grunt had come from. The sight that fell before him, however, was nothing but all-out carnage.

Team Magma Grunts and their Pokémon were firing at a Pokémon that looked like a large bird with jet-plane like wings. White and dark red, almost black, in color and with milky white, pupil-less eyes, the monstrous Pokémon was unfazed by the Magma Grunts' fire attacks and even a burst of a flamethrower from one hapless grunt, who was soon blow up by a Mist Ball attack from the creature.

Seeing his comrades taken down within seconds caused MEH#8 and his Golbat to turn tail and try to run back the generator room, but the creature had spotted him, and instead fired a Dark Pulse, a wave of purple and black circles at them, taking both out in an instant.

Back in the generator room, SLUH#3 and the rest of the nameless henchmen had heard the explosions and screams from the other rooms, but were too frightened to move, whispering to each other, wondering if the others were fighting against some kind of secret weapon from Team Aqua. Before SLUH#3 could give out any orders, something blasted a hole in the ceiling, and another Pokémon floated menacingly towards them – this one a bipedal, purple, vaguely feline Pokémon with a long tail, its eyes glowing with a pale blue aura. Before any of the Magmas could attack, the Pokémon pointed its three-fingered hand at them, and one by one, the Magma Grunts and their Pokémon were lifted into the air, where they struggled against the invisible shackles binding them.

Wattson stared in horror as the Pokémon floated towards him, too frightened to even try to scream or to break his shackles. As the Pokémon pointed its hand at him, Wattson cringed and prepared for the worst...

...but all he could hear was the sound of his shackles being broken. Realizing his hands were no longer tied, he removed his gag, then stared up at the purple Pokémon, trying to stutter something or even give out a trademark boisterous laughter, but nothing came out.

Instead of waiting for Wattson to talk, the Pokémon used another psychic attack to blast a hole into the wall next to them, effortlessly carving a tunnel leading up. It then focused entirely on Wattson, whose legs were trembling so badly that he could barely stand.

"_Leave_."

Wattson was confused by the deep voice echoing in his head. He was certain that it was the work of the Pokémon that stood before him, but it hadn't moved its mouth – it was projecting its words into his mind.

"_Leave now_," the Pokémon repeated. "_I can see you were not a part of this. Leave now or I'll be forced to do to you what I did to the rest_."

"Wh... why are you doing this to them?" Wattson whispered.

The Pokémon didn't respond, and Wattson realized his options. He wasn't going to stick around to get blown up, and though the idea of abandoning these people in their time of trouble to save himself sickened him, reality wasn't giving him much of a choice. He scurried into the tunnel and crawled away from New Mauville, moving faster than he had done in ten years. Meanwhile, the Pokémon raised its hand and pointed at the helplessly floating Magma Grunts and their Pokémon, ready to make them explode.

Every single second of doing so made it nauseous.

_**Location: Unknown, Hoenn**_

The next morning, Mewtwo and Latias had retreated back into their cave hideout on the outskirts of Hoenn. For about an hour, Latias kept flying over Mewtwo's head, reminiscing the massacre they were just involved, relishing every detail of it. Mewtwo tried its best to meditate, to block away the day's events, but Latias' vivid descriptions of her actions against both the Magma Grunts and their Pokémon. Though Mewtwo knew getting into an ethics debate would be counterproductive to its plan, it tried to ask Latias why she thought killing and/or wounding their Pokémon was okay if Latias felt her retribution on the humans was justified.

"They were in my way," Latias had answered innocently. "I wasn't aiming for them too particularly, but some of them tried to stand between their trainers and me... it made me sick."

Finally, Latias had exhausted her energy supplies and went to sleep. Mewtwo couldn't help but to feel happy that Latias trusted it enough to sleep in its presence – though Mewtwo knew she could sense anything that tried to attack her even in a deep slumber.

Or could she? Latias had told Mewtwo what happened on the fateful day of their capture. Somehow, members of Team Galactic, ordinary humans, had gotten the drop on her and her brother. Latias could be explained by not caring too much about safety at the time, but the way she talked about her brother had Mewtwo convinced that Latios himself was constantly vigilant and didn't trust humanity one bit.

Still, with Latias asleep, Mewtwo could let down its guard a bit. As it relaxed, the psychic shield preventing anyone seeing the old metal necklace it was wearing faded. Mewtwo put the pendant on its hand and observed it. It was possible that there were engravings inside, but even Mewtwo's power was insufficient to open it without destroying it. And yet, somehow, this old, rusty thing had protected the Masked Man from the spell Giratina had placed on him. As soon as Mewtwo had removed the necklace from him, a portal had appeared over the Masked Man's head, sucking him in – there was no need for Giratina Itself to intervene.

But then, what _was _it doing, then? The Masked Man had initially been one of Giratina's most loyal servants before apparently going rogue, yet Giratina had been confident that his plans would play into Its own schemes, anyway. The more Mewtwo thought about things, it also had to wonder just _how _was Giratina able to contact it so soon after its escape. Mewtwo pondered the words Giratina had spoken to it:

_"Or hundreds. Or millions. The choice is yours. Just remember that you have nowhere else to go. You're artificial, a human creation… the Pokémon will never accept you as one of them. And as for humans… they won't care if you have their blood in your veins if you have it on your hands, too. You're nothing more than a murderer to them…" _

Even with the necklace giving Mewtwo the ability to keep itself hidden from the beast, it couldn't escape the words It had ingrained on its mind. No matter where Mewtwo went, those prophetic words had come true.

Mewtwo looked at Latias, who looked more peaceful sleeping than Mewtwo had ever seen her before. Was she going through the same things now? Had Giratina also told her what It had told Mewtwo?

_"Your strength is unlike anything I have seen before. It needs to be put to good use… and what better way to fulfill your destiny, than to assume a role in the world that we're shaping?" _

What did it mean? The Masked Man had been ordered to find the Griseous Orb, and Mewtwo knew it was an artifact that could give Giratina power in this world equal to what it possessed in its home dimension. But why not have Mewtwo do it instead?

Mewtwo had also been forbidden from killing Giovanni by Giratina Itself. That was almost a confirmation that _he_ was somehow involved. The thought of _him_ made Mewtwo shudder more than the thought of any other human. Even if Mewtwo hadn't gotten a chance to see much of him, it could sense that there was something in him that made him different from any other human.

_Latias_, Mewtwo thought. _I wish I knew what you were dreaming about_...

…

…

…

Latias found herself flying through the Hoenn skies, free of restraints, her scales back to normal, and most importantly, free from the pain. Best of all, her brother was flying besides her. Latias smiled at Latios, who winked back, but flew determinedly forward. Oddly enough, within seconds, the two were back at Mirage Island, the place where all of the pain began. Everything seemed darker than usual, yet Latias couldn't tell whether it was day or night.

"Latios…" Latias said uncertainly, as her brother didn't say anything, just stared forward. "What are we doing here? Is this home?"

"No," Latios responded bluntly. "Home is where I am now. I just needed to show you something. Look."

Latios turned his head, and Latias tried to see what he was looking at. Mirage Island was the same as it ever was, except completely empty now.

No, not empty. There was something on the ground, motionless, but in the shape of a Pokémon… only with large chunks of it charred, burned away. Latias felt sick – she didn't want to look at it anymore, as she knew exactly what it was.

"I'm…" Latias said, trying to hold back tears. "I'm sorry, I…"

"Don't be," Latios said calmly. "Just accept it. That thing there will soon be washed away by the tides, but it is not me. Not anymore. Now I'm… well, everywhere, really. I always thought how good it was that I could be away from the influence of humans and other Pokémon, free to roam the world. But only now I'm truly free."

"I want to be free too," Latias said weakly.

"You can be. But first of all, you have to do one thing."

"What's that?"

"Wake up, sis."

…

…

…

Latias woke up with a sudden snort. Sensing something, she turned to look at something floating next to her. Without hesitation, she fired a Mist Ball at it, only for the attack to go straight through the ghostly figure. As the dust cleared, Latias gasped slightly when she recognized the figure floating above her. It had blue and white scales, red irises and jet-plane like wings.

"No..." Latias muttered. "It couldn't be you..."

Latios smiled back gently.

"It's me, sis."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Mr. Briney's boat, en route to Slateport City, Hoenn**_

"You're bitter, Krissy."

"I am not!"

"Jealous?"

"No."

"...bitterly jealous?"

"NO!"

"Hey, come look, I can see a shipwreck!"

"Iris, not now!" Kris snapped at Iris, who had been staring out of the window throughout the trip. "Wes, please, May just won because she got lucky – I'm happy for her," she added through gritted teeth.

May had surrounded herself with her Pokémon in one corner of the cabin. She was feeding her Combusken, Shroomish and Mawile, thanking them for a successful battle, while also polishing her new Knuckle Badge. After the little adventure at the Granite Cave, May had made her way confidently to the gym. Her Combusken had actually beaten Medicham by sheer tenacity and giving it a burn, but fell to Brawly's Hariyama. Surprisingly, it was May's new Mawile that won the match, first by using Iron Defense to laugh off all of Hariyama's attacks, then knock it the frak out with its patented move, Play Rough.

"Look, it's okay to admit you're jealous, or bitter, or... bealous," Wes said calmly while Kris was on the verge of a fit of rage. "You were writing nasty things about May in that book before!"

"I was not!" Kris protested. "Also, you read it?! I swear to Arceus, Wes, I will stab you in the pancreas!"

"What are you thinking?" Wes gasped in fake shock. "I didn't have to read it, I could read the look on your face when you were writing on it, and Iris already told me that it was a diary."

"Traitor!" Kris snapped at Iris. "I swear to Arceus, Iris, I will stab you in the pancreas!"

Wes laughed, but this quickly faded into little muted noises when Hilda descended into the cabin. Just like that, Wes looked like a five-year old boy being scolded by his mom.

"Is Wesley being an ass again?" Hilda asked.

"What do you mean 'again'?" Kris retorted.

"Hey!" Wes protested weakly.

"Yeah, you're right there," Hilda chuckled. "By the way, May, nice going against Brawly earlier!"

"Oh... um, thanks!" May said nervously.

"Yeah, though it could have used less swearing and raging," Hilda said. "Also, you don't have to act like you're throwing yourself into the thick of it every time you have a battle. Your Pokémon will grow to become real douches if you keep that up."

May was devastated by this brutal advice, and sputtered some protests indignantly, but Hilda didn't stick around to listen but instead sat on the floor right next to Kris and Wes, the latter looking outright terrified when Hilda snatched a sheet of paper from his hand – he didn't protest.

"So, this is the whatchamacallit prophecy you guys have investigated all this time?" Hilda asked casually while she leaned against Wes like he was just a piece of furniture. "Tell you what, give me a couple of those papers and I'll ask Alder if he knows anything the next time I see him."

"But... no," Wes squeaked out. "You can't-"

"Sounds good to me," Kris said with a shrug. "What about you, Iris?"

Iris didn't seem to hear what Kris said. She was looking out of the cabin's window like a Growlithe who had just spotted some prey. Soon after, a high-pitched squeal came out of her mouth and her eyes practically shined as she stared out of the window and pointed at something.

"I can see it!" Iris yelled. "Slateport City! We're almost there!"

"Huh, that was quick," Hilda remarked. "So, how about it with these papers?"

"Did you know some people from Unova used to be at war with people from Hoenn?" Iris ranted, completely in her own world now. "And that the war didn't stop until the Unovans had to drop a bomb right here where Slateport is now? That was like a hundred years ago, and look how well these people have recovered! It's amazing!"

"When aren't Unovans at war with someone?" Hilda laughed. "If it's not with other regions or countries, they'll fight themselves. But Iris, are you listening?!"

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure, you can have it... wow, the first thing I want to do is to visit Stern's Shipyard! And then I want to visit that professor – and then I want to head to the markets!"

"Ooh, shopping, sounds awesome, my Pokémon could use some vitamins," said May who was now looking out of the window with Iris. "Don't forget, though, _I'm_ in charge of the package to Stern – but you can go with me."

"Gee, what an honor."

"Am I just air to you guys?" Wes asked impatiently.

"I wish," Kris remarked.

"She's..." Wes motioned wildly in Hilda's direction, while Hilda was just filing her nails casually. "We can't just... she's not..."

"How astute, Wes," Hilda said cruelly. "The world of literature suffered a great loss when you went into... whatever it is that you do now."

"Yeah, we're just going to ignore you now," Kris told Wes. "Hilda, you can have it. Also... you know, say hi to Alder for me."

"Oh, I'll be watching your progress, don't you worry," Hilda smirked.

"_Slateport City ahoy_!" Mr. Briney announced from above. "_Get ready for docking_!"

As Kris, Iris, May, Wes and Hilda left their boat with their belongings, Kris and Iris stopped to thank Mr. Briney for everything. Peeko was especially sad to see Kris go – not because of Kris herself, but because it had befriended Shrew during the trip. Shrew had to be kept in the Poké Ball for now, though, as it tried to cut one of Wes' arteries every time the two were close to each other. Briney said he wouldn't be going back to Petalburg straight away, though, as he also had business in Slateport, and promised they would meet again.

Slateport City reminded Kris a lot of Olivine, as there were ships coming and going constantly, a lighthouse stood tall above everything else and the city was bustling with people from all over the world, sailors and tourists in particular, the group having to be very careful not to lose sight of each other in the crowd.

Stern's Shipyard, a large, wooden building by the ocean, was only a few minutes away from the docks. The group had a better chance to talk now that they were out of the crowds a little.

"Well, here it is!" May said briskly and tapped Mr. Stone's package, that she carried under her arm. "So, are we all going, or...?"

"Nah, I don't care," Hilda just said. "Like I said, I need to get to Alder. You guys have fun, though. Catch ya later!"

"Um, actually," Wes said awkwardly, his smug exterior having mostly vanished in Hilda's presence, "I have a meeting I should attend, so maybe I'll go with you for a while, Hilda... we can catch up on old times."

"Yeah, because I clearly haven't suffered enough," Hilda joked and rolled her eyes. "Later, everyone! Wes, if you can't keep up, I'm ditching you!"

Hilda left, but Wes still stayed, unsure of what he should say. Kris crossed her arms and glared at him – Wes would get no fond farewells from her.

"Um, be careful, y'all," Wes said. "If I find out anything more, I'll track you down."

"Oh, goodie," Kris grumbled. "Well, bye, take your time with whatever it is that you're doing."

"Sure thing, Kris," Wes said and looked at the ground. "It was nice to meet you, May. And Iris, I..." Wes shifted his weight from one leg to another awkwardly. "Stay awesome."

Iris waved at Wes sadly, being the only one in the group showing any signs of sadness. Kris was impatient to see Wes go while May was barely listening, as she wanted to get the package delivered.

"Bye bye, Wes," Iris said.

Wes nodded and waved back a little before running after Hilda. When Wes disappeared into the crowds, Kris let out a gargantuan sigh.

"Well, now we can breathe easy," she said. "To be fair, though, I want to see what else is in here."

"You should try the markets," Iris suggested.

"Well... there's so many people, and I'd have to talk to them..."

"Okay, well, how about the museum, then?"

Iris pointed at the large, modern building just two blocks away from the Shipyard. Kris groaned again – the word 'museum' was even more detestable than 'social interaction with strangers'. Still, going there required less walking, so Kris complied.

While Kris headed for the museum, Iris and May stepped inside the Shipyard. However, their awkward entrance went mostly ignored, as the engineers and construction workers inside were far too busy to give them a second look. On top of that, neither Iris nor May wanted to bother them too much, so they just walked around the Shipyard aimlessly, May holding the package in clear view, hoping someone would spot them.

Eventually, a short, balding, middle-aged man carrying a bunch of rolled-up papers approached them, waving and smiling cheerfully.

"Welcome to Stern's Shipyard!" he said loudly, offering a rough handshake to both Iris and May. "My name is Dock, the man in charge of Stern's latest project: the S.S. Tidal! How may I be of service?"

"Oh, wow," May said, taken aback by the jovial greeting. "Well, I'm looking for Mr... I mean, _Captain_ Stern."

"Hah, don't mind!" Dock laughed. "You can just call him Stern! He's not an actual captain, just an oceanographer who built this Shipyard and the museum and has given this town lots of jobs – why, our status as on of the most important ports in the world wouldn't be without him. Out of respect for him, the townspeople started calling him 'Captain' Stern. Why, even I would still be unemployed if it wasn't for him!"

"I have a package for him," May said and showed the Devon Goods.

"Oh, my!" Dock said dramatically. "The parts we ordered from Devon – took them long enough! Hah, only kidding, that's the submarine division's problem! See, after we had to forfeit our initial Submarine Explorer 1 to the government, we began construction of Submarine Explorer 2, bigger and better than before! The thing you're carrying there is an additional part for helping the submersible pod that's going to be attached to the sub survive even the most intense pressures deep in the ocean."

"Yeah, okay," May said quickly. "But can I see Captain Stern now?"

"Oh, you could, but he's not here at the moment, I'm afraid!" Dock said, prompting May to roll her eyes. "I'm not sure where he... ah, Professor Ivy! I need to speak with you a moment!"

A tall scientist with long, purple hair who was balancing a cup of coffee dangerously on some research notes, noticed Dock's wave an approached the group curiously.

"This is Professor Philena Ivy, one of the researchers helping us with the project," Dock explained. "Professor, these two are looking for Captain Stern."

"Hello," Ivy said, "it's nice to – are you okay?"

While May introduced herself casually, Iris was staring at Ivy intently, like she was looking at something really far away, then suddenly clasped her hands together enthusiastically, letting out a dramatic gasp.

"You're the professor who lectured at my university!" Iris squealed. "Oh, I'm Iris, from Unova," Iris bowed politely. "I've been wanting to ask you something for ages now!"

"Yeah, but first things first – where's this Stern guy?" May asked impatiently.

"He's at the museum, I believe – he also has curator duties there," Ivy explained, gazing at Iris with interest. "I do remember doing a guest lecture there, though that was so long ago – you're interested in my research?"

"Yes!" Iris said enthusiastically. "I'd particularly like to know about..."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Oceanic Museum, Slateport City, Hoenn**_

When demanded to pay fifty poké-dollars at the entrance, Kris was initially hesitant and tried to think of a way to distract the receptionist, until the receptionist suddenly asked if she was part of the 'group that arrived earlier'. Kris immediately said yes and was allowed in for free. However, even that seemed like wasted effort, as water samples from different regions and model whirlpools were of little interest to Kris. Someone like Iris or Leaf would have probably appreciated the crap out of what was on display, but Kris found herself yawning through her walk around the museum, wondering exactly where this 'group' the receptionist had mentioned was hiding.

In the second floor, that was completely bereft of visitors, Kris saw something that drew her interest: a model ship that was almost an exact replica of the S.S. Anne. Kris went closer to carefully inspect it from every angle. Seeing the ship again really took her back – she wondered what Captain Cutter and the crew were up to now.

_Well... sailing, probably._

"Like it?"

"Sweet Crystal Dragon Jesus!"

Kris practically jumped backwards as she turned to look at the guy who had talked to her – it was a man in his thirties in a lab coat with glasses, messy dark hair and mustache.

"Sorry," the man said nebbishly and took a step back. "I just wanted to make sure people enjoyed our models."

"Oh, yeah, it's really well-crafted," Kris said after catching her breath. "For a while, I could almost remember the smell of the bathrooms we had to clear every time after those rich a-holes had their party..."

"Mmyes," the man mumbled, adjusting his glasses – his demeanor reminded Kris of someone. "Allow me to introduce myself – Captain Stern, at your service."

"Stern..." Kris mumbled, then snapped her fingers. "Oh, yeah, my name's Kris! I... well, _we_ were supposed to deliver you the Devon Goods! My friends went looking for you at the shipyard."

"Oh... well, I'm sure they'll find here soon," Stern said. "Thank you for your efforts – here, take a look at this!"

Stern led Kris to another model – two, in fact, in display cases next to each other. One was of a white submarine, the other of a blue, spherical pod.

"Once our submarine finishes, we will able to explore regions as unknown to us than even the deepest reaches of space," Stern announced. "There could be yet-to-be discovered Pokémon, signs of an ancient civilization of some sort..."

Kris was reminded of the mysterious writings, but since Iris had them with her, she couldn't exactly Stern about them, so she just nodded politely.

"Once the submarine is complete, I can focus on completing the S.S. Tidal," Stern said wistfully. "Oh, it will be a proud day, to have so many years worth of slaving be finally done... see, we have missed our deadline several times now. Budget, weather, bad coordination – and then our submarine was seized for military use. It's chaos, I tell you."

"This is all really fascinating," Kris lied, "but maybe we should head to the Shipyard so we can give you the packa-"

"_You're not going anywhere_!"

Kris and Stern turned to look at the doorway. Two Team Aqua grunts, one female and one male, stood there, blocking the only exit, smirking smugly at them. But they had to stand aside when a third grunt arrived, this one wearing a slightly different outfit and carrying a short sabre, instantly recognizable from his black hair and big, blue eyes.

"Well, Captain Stern, I believe Team Aqua has negotiated with you before," Lunick said boisterously, "and you have denied us every time. I admire a man who sticks to his principles, but if you had any idea what we're about to do here, you'd..."

Lunick noticed Kris' presence, while Kris noticed his. The two pointed at each other in surprise, Lunick using his sword to do so.

"You!" they yelled simultaneously.

"Uh," Stern whined, looking like he was about to wet himself. "If you're having a moment, I can just go, I gue-"

"Hold it, Captain!" Lunick exclaimed. "Out of respect for your rank, I will not have you handed to our leader, but you will-"

"He's not a real captain," Kris said flatly.

"...what?" Lunick asked.

"It's a nickname. He's an – what was it again..." Kris took out a brochure about Slateport City. "...oceanographer. Man, tricky word, that."

"I... see."

Lunick gathered the other two Aqua Grunts closer to himself for a group huddle. After some muttering and whispering, the Aqua Grunts assumed their position and Lunick cleared his throat.

"Out of respect for the admiration the people in this city have for you," Lunick amended, "I will give you a chance. Co-operate with us and hand over the package and no one will be harmed."

"I-I don't have the package yet!" Stern stuttered. "How did you even get in here?"

"You have much to learn about the art of guerrilla warfare, Capt – Oceanographer," Lunick scoffed. "We arrived here in the guise of an ordinary group of tourists, then dispersed all over this building and its surroundings. Your enforcers-"

"Huh?" Stern wondered.

"I think he means the security," Kris muttered.

"Yes, you should have greater care over the dedication of your subordinates, Mr. Stern," Lunick said. "With a promise of monetary gain and a collection of explicit imagery, it was easy to get out of the place for the day. We hid our members in the lavatories, room closets, behind the building, and swapped into our uniforms to prepare for our takeover."

"Not as sneaky as I'd had done it," Kris pointed out. "I mean, aren't you going to attract attention in those bright blue outfits?"

Lunick narrowed his eyes. "You dare question the power of the uniform? It reinforces morale and team spirit, eliminates aesthetic distractions and strikes fear in the hearts of our opponents! They're infamous throughout the globe!"

"Not really, I come from Johto, which is actually pretty close by, and I hadn't heard of you guys before I got here."

Lunick was unamused.

"You two, don't move a muscle," he told the grunts coldly, glaring at Kris. "She has stood in Team Aqua's way long enough."

Kris smiled. _For once, someone I can clobber_.

"Bring it on," she said, grabbing Croc's Poké Ball from her belt, while Lunick took out a Poké Ball of his own.

Captain Stern backed against the wall in terror. Kris wasn't exactly sure why, as Team Aqua didn't match what she thought when she heard the word 'threatening', and either way, they wouldn't be a problem for long.

"Before we begin, I have to ask you something," Lunick said calmly. "If we're going to fight as equals, I would like to know your name."

"It's Kris, but don't bother," Kris deadpanned. "No one ever remembers it and they just call me 'what's-her-face' or 'that one' or something stupid. And I swear, if someone calls me Lyra once more-"

"Kris," Lunick repeated in confusion. "Would that be short for something?"

"..." Kris muttered indignantly.

"Sorry, I'm afraid I didn't catch that."

"...Crystal."

Lunick smiled, but didn't laugh, which Kris was grateful for. "How pretty," he said. "Well, my name is Lunick, as I'm sure you remember. I have to warn you in advance that just because you're young and inexperienced, I won't hold back."

"Hah, you mean you'll 'be gentle' or something? This isn't my first time, you know"

"Yes, I'll... oh, do get your mind out of the gutter. I'm trying to initiate a Pokémon battle here."

"Sorry," Kris said. "And I do know your name. In fact... there's something I've been meaning to ask you, too. Where are you from?"

Lunick narrowed his eyes again and stared at Kris warily – Kris could almost hear him trying to think of an answer.

"It wouldn't make a difference if I told you," Lunick said hesitantly. "You wouldn't have heard – wait. You said earlier you came from the Johto region, right?"

"Yeah, it's probably raining buckets over there right now."

"Then..." Lunick hesitated a bit, licking his lips as he looked at Kris uncertainly. "Do you know of a place called, the... Alph Valley?"

Kris tried to hold back a scream of '_I knew it!'. _She stared at Lunick – her memories of him were hazy, yes, and his outfit at the time had been different, definitely from a different era. But something of him still reminded Kris of the brave warrior who had protected his home from those _things_ emerging from a portal.

"They're called the Ruins of Alph now," Kris said firmly. "Nothing but rubble and empty catacombs filled with archeologists at this point."

Kris and Lunick stared each other down, Lunick putting his sword back in his sheath hesitantly. Kris knew Lunick would think she was insane for saying it, but she had to get this out:

"You were there, weren't you?" Kris asked. "A few hundred years ago, you were fighting... against something from the Distortion World."

Lunick's eyes widened. His mouth slightly open in his shock, he seemed to tremble a bit, staring at Kris like she was a ghost. It got to a point that his hand was shaking so bad that he had to grab it with his other hand, putting the Poké Ball away.

"H-how... how can you... what are you?" he stuttered.

"I know this sounds dumb," Kris began, "but I kind of... saw you."

"How?"

"Hallucination slash dream slash metaphysical acid trip. Not sure even if those are accurate. I think I touched some of the writing on the walls there."

"A _what_ trip?"

"You really are him," Kris said, almost wanting to laugh at how right she had been. "But... why? I mean, what in the world happened? How are you here now?"

"If I would have died when the valley collapsed, I would have at least gone with honor," Lunick said bitterly, staring at his shaking hands. "But instead, something... _monstrous_ came and yanked me out of my time. Even my Manectric was left behind. I have no idea why that Pokémon decided to take me, or appear at that exact moment. I woke up on the mountains in the middle of nowhere, in a strange place a thousand miles from Johto. That was only three months ago... or three months and three hundred years ago, I don't even know!"

Watching at Lunick's anguish made Kris think about what Iris had told her three years ago. The GS Ball, an object the Masked Man and Neo Team Rocket had been after was finally opened, just when Kris herself wasn't present, no less. It had contained Celebi, a time-traveling Pokémon who had apparently disappeared into a vortex of some kind. But why would it have done that? Why go to _that _exact moment in time?

"You didn't answer the 'how are you here now' part," Kris said. "You don't seem to have that much trouble fitting in, or to the fact that everyone you knew back then is gone."

"Yes, the shock of realizing the current year was... I can barely describe it," Lunick reminisced. "It felt like a nightmare I couldn't wake up from, like a divine punishment for failing to save everyone from my home. I didn't eat anything for days, I ran away from everyone who tried to approach me. But now I know how fortunate I was to end up where I did."

"Where was that?"

"Fiore, a mountainous region to the north," Lunick explained. "For the next two months, the locals, the Pokémon Rangers, took me in and showed me the ropes of their lifestyle. The culture shock was... lesser than I would have thought. I didn't tell anyone about who I was or where I came from, even if I was grateful to their help. I was able to pay back their kindness by doing fieldwork and fixing things, simple things that I was somewhat capable at. But then Shelly and some other recruiters appeared to our community..."

"I can see where this is going," Kris muttered.

"They gave me a chance!" Lunick insisted. "Even with the little I knew, I was no builder or farmer, and I certainly didn't have the patience to learn of everything that had happened in the past. I would have only been a burden to the Rangers, so I demonstrated my abilities with the Pokémon I got from them and was immediately recruited into Team Aqua."

"_Why_?!" Kris wondered loudly. "Hell, you're not even from this era and you sound a lot more sensible than those other freaks-"

"Do _not_ insult us!" Lunick yelled. "Only Team Aqua can restore things to the way they were. I have been in this region for a month, and I have seen the damage you people have done to it!"

"See, _now _it sounds like we're in Proteam Omega," Kris said.

Lunick had enough, and he quickly tossed his Poké Ball at the ground, causing his Sceptile to come out. Kris was quick to send out her Feraligatr as well, Croc roaring and stretching his arms as soon as it was out, furious over his loss to Brawly's Hariyama yesterday.

"You're sure you can call yourself a Pokémon Trainer?" Lunick scoffed. "You're putting yourself at a disadvantage already."

"Yeah, you're gonna find out that type advantages mean jack-squat nowadays – if you know what you're doing," Kris said. "Croc, Ice Punch!"

An icy-bluish white glow enveloping its fist, Croc lunged at the Sceptile and prepared to punch it, Sceptile managing to barely dodge the attack. Lunick ordered a Leaf Blade, but Kris countered with a Slash, Croc's claws swiping right through even the sharp blades on Sceptile's tail, making the grass-type squeal and move its tail away.

"Where is your honor?" Lunick ranted as he saw Sceptile's tail missing several of its blades.

"Never had any," Kris retorted. "They'll grow back, anyway – and besides, I don't make a habit of holding back against people trying to kill me. It happens so often that it's not even funny."

"Hold on," Lunick said and raised his hand in the air as Kris was about to order another attack. "You think I'm here to kill you?"

"Well, you said you didn't, but what does that count for these days, anyway?" Kris scoffed. "Now, Team Aqua on the other hand – did you ever stop to wonder about what you've gotten yourself into?"

Lunick's irritated and confused frown was all the answer Kris needed.

"I... don't believe you," Lunick said hesitantly. "But I'm willing to hear your side of the story. How about this: your Feraligatr, my Sceptile, a fair, one-on-one battle-"

"Isn't that we've been doing already?"

"-and if you win, we'll leave this city and stay out of your way for good, I promise. If I win, you'll come with us as a hostage and you'll get to see our leader – you will be unharmed. Again, I promise with my life."

Kris thought about her options. A part of her wanted to throw the fight just to see who, exactly, was behind all of this. But there's no way she'd do that to Croc – the Feraligatr hadn't gotten the chance to really throw down. He had already lost to Shelly and Brawly, and the battle against Roxanne's Nosepass had been as effortless as coughing with the massive type advantage.

_Yeah. No way I'm gonna do anything else but beat this guy to the ground._

"Deal," Kris said.

"Don't regret this later," Lunick warned. "Energy Ball!"

"Protect!"

Lunick and Sceptile were fast, the Sceptile having taken the opportunity to subtly start forming a green sphere of energy between its hands, launching it upon Lunick's command. But Kris was used to quick opponents and countered it, the orb hitting the invisible wall Croc had erected and exploding, green sparkles raining everywhere in a sight that would make a hippie tingle with joy.

"Now, Superpower!"

Croc's speed surprised Sceptile, the Feraligatr having gathered all of its energy on its glowing fist. But Sceptile managed to dodge the attack, then trip Croc with Slam. But as Croc fell down, its head landed next to Sceptile's tail. Before Sceptile could move, Kris ordered an Ice Fang, the Feraligatr chomping down on the exposed parts of Sceptile's tail, sending a cold sensation down the grass-type's spine and making it flinch for a split-second.

"Ice Punch!"

With Sceptile flinched and unable to do anything, Croc's fist glowed again, and this time, the attack landed square on Sceptile's chest, shards of ice spreading all over Sceptile's body from the point of impact. For a while, Sceptile just shivered with the cold, its normally calm expression turned to wide-eyed shock.

"It's frozen!" Kris praised. "Now, use Crunch!"

"Agility!"

Croc's attack missed as the Sceptile seemed to vanish completely, leaving just ice fragments behind. Somehow, it had moved with blistering speed just a few feet away, and from Lunick's command, launched another Energy Ball, which struck Croc, but didn't bring the Big Jaw Pokémon down.

"How did you do that?!" Kris wondered. She was more impressed than angry, something that surprised even herself.

"Your strategy was easy to read," Lunick said. "Block and then charge, then repeat. Your Feraligatr is definitely faster than I assumed, but it would have worn itself out soon. When Sceptile was freezing, you attacked without confirming if it had frozen completely, allowing Sceptile to flee with Agility. Then, as I predicted, _Croc_ was too tired to dodge."

"Neat," Kris praised. "Croc, Ice Punch!"

"Leaf Blade!" Lunick yelled.

Sceptile jumped in the air, about to jab Croc with its spike-filled tail, while Croc lunged at it, ready to deal with the finishing blow. Both attacks hit at the same time, Croc having punched Sceptile in the stomach while Sceptile had jabbed the Feraligatr in the head. For a while, the two Pokémon just stood still, not moving a muscle, staring each other down. When neither Pokémon would fall after ten seconds of intense staring, the two Pokémon closed their eyes simultaneously and came crashing down, both unable to battle.

Kris and Lunick recalled their Pokémon, again at the same time, then glanced at each other.

"Next Pokémon?" Kris asked.

"Next Pokémon!" Lunick replied. "Go-"

But the two Aqua Grunts at the entrance were suddenly knocked by a strange, bipedal green and yellow Pokémon Kris had never seen before – it looked like it was wearing a mushroom as a hat and had a long tail with green seed clusters at the end of it. It could even extend its normally stubby arms.

"What's that?!" Lunick snapped as he glared at the new arrival.

"You don't recognize it?" asked a familiar voice next to the Pokémon. "Say hello to my new Breloom!"

The one hiding behind the Pokémon was May, also accompanied by her Combusken. Kris waved at her, but May seemed more interested in Stern, who had hidden under a table during the fight.

"Captain Stern!" May exclaimed. "I brought your package," she added and tapped the thing she was carrying. "Just had to take care of Team Aqua first."

"All of them?!" Lunick wondered.

"Ah, hi there, Sceptile-boy," May greeted as if she had just noticed Lunick. "Yeah, I did it all by myself – it was easy after Shroomish evolved mid-battle," she patted the Breloom.

Kris gave her an incredulous look.

"Okay, yeah, I called the police when I spotted an Aqua Grunt sneaking around the museum," May admitted and rolled her eyes, "but I really helped!"

"The law enforcers?" Lunick said in confusion. "But- that doesn't make... the leader said..."

"So, do you know this guy, or something?" May asked Kris. "You always seem to find each other in odd places."

Kris sighed. "It's a long-"

Lunick didn't wait around to be arrested, instead charging at the nearest window. Letting out a weird battle cry as he went, Lunick smashed through the window, Kris and May hearing a loud thud as he landed. Rushing to the window, Kris and May saw Lunick evading two police officers, hopping on the roof of a police car and jumping into the crowds. Though the police gave pursuit, Kris strongly doubted that Lunick could get caught. He didn't survive a three-century trip for nothing.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Outskirts of Slateport City, Hoenn**_

Somewhere around the seedier parts of town, Wes was talking to his contact via a public payphone. Holding the earpiece against his cheek and shoulder, Wes used his free hands to write what he heard on his notepad.

"...yeah, they're on the right track," Wes said. "Uh huh. Okay. Uh, okay, how do you spell that? Ver-dan-turf, okay. What am I supposed to find... oh. But how is she- oh. _Oh_. Crap. I see. Well shouldn't we tell... no, yeah, you're right. I'll call you when it's done. Bye."

Sighing, Wes hung up and ripped the paper with his instructions from the notepad, putting it in his pocket. Mentally preparing himself for what he was about to do, Wes grabbed the earpiece once again and dialed another number – even if every single push of a button made him hate himself.

After having to listen to the dial tone for an obnoxiously long amount of time, Wes thinking his other contact was deliberately letting him wait, the contact finally picked up the phone:

"_Cheren__'__s office_."

"It's me," Wes grunted.

"_Ahh, Wesley – __you were worrying me there for a moment. __I swear, I had many sleepless nights over you. There are really nasty criminals out there in Hoenn... __but then I remembered that you'll fit right in._"

"Yeah, yeah," Wes grumbled. "I have a status update for you. The Crystal One is in Slateport, heading up to Mauville next. And The Soulful One is-"

"_In Verdanturf Town, yes, that I'm aware of. But nice job on the other one_."

"Yeah, now do we have to use these idiotic code names?"

"_What? You don't think they're cool?_"

"Well, if someone _is_ listening in, they've probably seen me with them already, and when you're talking about 'The Crystal One', even agent Numbnuts, the guy who can't tie his own shoelaces can put two and two together."

"_Now, Wesley, you know we don't have anyone like that working for us. Num__b__n__u__ts is a woman, and I won't let you badmouth her anymore_."

"Whatever, was there anything else you need me to do?"

"_Yes. __Speaking of The Soulful One, I need you to pay her a visit. __See to it she doesn't, how should I put it, 'stray from the path'. __Crystal still needs a few more badges, correct_?"

"Yes, two."

"_But the other one doesn't, so see to it she goes through the path we laid out for her. __Give her at least part of the same spiel __you gave Crystal – destiny, __altruism, __world of Pokémon__, blah blah. But you know, in your own words. __Just make sure she goes through the Weather Institute, we'll take care of the rest_."

"Sure."

"_Watch the tone now, __I am your employer, after all. But I guess that would be all for now, Wesley. It's always a pleasure when we have our little chats_."

"Eat me," Wes grunted and hung up.

As soon as Wes was done, Hilda emerged from behind the payphone, hands in her pockets and a knowing smile on her face. Wes didn't even flinch too badly this time.

"You're a sneaky bastard, aren't you?" she teased.

"I thought I told you this was a private call," Wes muttered, unable to sass Hilda while looking at her in the eye.

"Oh, I know, that was one part I was gonna praise – most people just blurt private stuff out, but you managed to make sure I didn't hear anything important," Hilda said cheerfully, giving Wes a playful punch in the arm. "Good for you, really clever!"

"Well, I... wait, are you being conde-"

"But I was also gonna praise your double-dealing," Hilda continued. "That was very skillful."

"You're not gonna ask me who it was?" Wes wondered.

Hilda shrugged. "I don't care."

Wes sighed. "I guess that means you're not gonna tell me who you're working for and what your _real_ interest in Kris is, huh?"

Hilda grinned. "We're professionals, Wesker – we know better than to do that. You have your little endgame and I have mine."

"But still," Wes argued, almost unnerved by Hilda's constant zip-a-dee-doo-dah-ness. "I mean... the last time I saw you were in hospital gowns, handcuffed to the bed. You had just... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Hilda stopped smiling, instead narrowing her eyes and moving threateningly close to Wes. "You're saying I'm weak?"

"No!" Wes squealed in terror. "No, I just meant-"

"Ahh, you're so easy to fool," Hilda laughed, nudging Wes with her elbow – Wes wondered how long was he going to be her punching bag. "What can I say, life goes on, right? Wounds like that don't slow me down."

Wes was going to open his mouth to say something else, but decided to just nod instead.

"Well, I'mma go see if there are any good seafood places here," Hilda said and waved at Wes. "Guess you're going to Verdanturf, then. See ya!"

Wes watched after Hilda, who walked briskly back into town, not a care in the world. Much as that woman scared him poopless, Wes had to smile. Strength like that was hard to come by.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Unknown, Hoenn**_

"It can't be you," Latias panicked. "This is another dream."

Latias tried pinching herself, slapping herself, even bashing her head against a rock, which barely scraped the legendary Pokémon. But her brother, or something that looked like him, floated before her, as if he had never left. Latias reached out for Latios, attempting to touch his hand with hers... only to have her hand go right through him. Watching Latias' hand, Latios' smile faded a bit.

"You're not here," Latias whispered.

"Yes," Latios said warmly. "And no. Maybe. I told you before – it's like I'm, well, everywhere. Wherever I am, I had limited time to come here and tell you something. It's not normally allowed, but-"

"So... you're a ghost now?" Latias wondered, flying around Latios and looking at him from every corner. He looked solid, except for the fact that the rocks in the cave seemed to go right through him.

"Don't ask me to explain it," Latios laughed. "This is hard enough as it is."

"You look like him," Latias said. "You sound like him. You even act like him."

"It's me, sis," Latios assured. "I promise."

"I... I've been thinking about what we talked about just before..." Latias gulped. "I've tried to complete your mission, brother. I have a friend working with me. Together we've been annihilating humans. I don't know why I ever doubted you. The humans that I've seen have been the lowest scum in the world. They've enslaved and captured Pokémon, killed members of their own species without hesitation – even they would benefit if we'd wipe them off the map."

Latios smiled wider than Latias could remember, bringing tears of joy in her eyes.

"That's good," Latios beamed. "You've done very well. Who is this ally?"

"They've been very helpful!" Latias said enthusiastically. "They remind me of... well, they call themselves Mewtwo. I think they have something to do with the 'Ancestral One' legend you once told me about."

Latios smiled. "Calm down, sis, I can see you're excited," he said. "I'm really glad you finally saw the truth. But there is still something I want you to do."

"Anything!" Latias promised.

"The Soul Dew," Latios said. "Do you know of it?"

Latias shook her head, eyes wide with enthusiasm.

"If you have it, we can be reunited again," Latios said, prompting Latias to almost explode from excitement. "It is where my soul is trapped at the moment. It has been encased in the Enigma Stone, which needs to be broken if I'm to ever find peace."

"But... why didn't you tell me this before?" Latias asked.

"I wasn't sure, but I am now," Latios urged. "But the Enigma Stone is indestructible. Only a specific clause will activate it. The legendary Pokémon Kyogre. Remember when we talked about it?"

Latias nodded. "The creator of the seas, yes, I remember!"

"The only thing that will bring it out of its slumber is the Blue Orb," Latios said. "There are humans called Team Aqua who are looking for it now, that's your best bet. But that alone isn't enough... Kyogre won't do anything unless Groudon is present, and to awaken it, you need the Red Orb. When the two Pokémon meet, a cataclysmic battle will ensue. If Kyogre defeats Groudon, this entire region and all the humans within will drown in the massive flood!"

Latias smiled manically. This was the thing Mewtwo had told her about – something that can destroy a region full of people with one fell swoop.

"Only the great flood can open the Enigma Stone, and with that, our dreams will be fulfilled," Latios said. "Will you do that for me?"

"I-"

"_Latias_!"

Mewtwo, having left the cave for a while, had returned, only to see Latias apparently talking to herself. Except Mewtwo knew full well what was going on – and who she was talking with. Latias turned to wave at Mewtwo cheerfully while Latios glared.

"This is Mewtwo!" Latias told what was seemingly just air from Mewtwo's perspective. "Mewtwo, this is my brother, Latios! He has returned for one last talk with me!"

"It's no use, sis," Latios said quietly. "Mewtwo is unable to see-"

"That is not your brother!" Mewtwo said firmly. "It's a trick! They've done the same to me before."

"What are you talking about?" Latias wondered. "Bro, what is Mewtwo talk-"

"I can prove it!" Mewtwo said, its eyes suddenly glowing.

With one swipe of its hand, a psychic wave echoed throughout the cave. And just like that, dozens of small, floating Pokémon suddenly came into view. They looked like black, thin letters, all with one, lidless eye in the middle. Latias looked around her wildly.

"Latios, what are those?!" she wondered.

"They're Unown," Mewtwo explained. "And _that_," Mewtwo pointed at the shape of Latios, which it could now see, "is _not_ Latios."

"That's an impressive trick, Mewtwo," Latios said evenly. "Even more impressive is how _you_ stayed out of my sight for so... ah, of course." Latios tilted his head. "You used the necklace. I don't see it now, though."

"And you'll never find it," Mewtwo assured.

"Am I to take that you don't wish to follow you destiny anymore?" Latios asked innocently. "I seem to remember promising you untold power and a chance to subdue the human race."

"Yeah, I don't care about that anymore," Mewtwo said. "Especially since you seem to be good buddies with the man whose actions brought me into this world in the first place. Are you the one?"

Mewtwo's hand glowed blue, the veins on his forehead growing bigger while psychic energy was pumped into its head through the tube on its neck. Latias stared at the events in shock while Latios observed calmly.

"Are _you _behind my creation?" Mewtwo asked shakily. "You are the one I have to ask my questions from?"

"Ask away," Latios said, "what kind of benevolent guardian would I be if-"

Mewtwo fired a Shadow Ball attack at Latios, but the black sphere of sizzling energy only went through it, blowing up a new hole in the ceiling instead, sending rubble flying everywhere. Mewtwo didn't seem too surprised by this turn of events, though.

"It was worth a try," it remarked.

"Latias!" Latios said quickly, turning to face her. "The Soul Dew – I didn't want to get your hopes up too high, but it may hold the power to restore me back to life-"

"It's lying!" Mewtwo shouted. "It doesn't have the power to do that!"

"Activate the Soul Dew!" Latios said. "It's what your brother would have wanted."

"That's not true!" Mewtwo insisted. "It's using us both!"

Latias kept looking between Mewtwo and Latios uncertainly.

"Latias, listen to me," Latios said. "It's true – I am not your brother, but I'm using his form to relay a message from him. It's me – your friend, your benefactor, the one who you have to thank for setting you free. Everything I said is according to his will-"

"It's another trick!" Mewtwo said. "Latias, you have to stop this!"

"Mewtwo used to be loyal to me, to our cause," Latios continued quickly, "but it has betrayed us all. It stands with the humans now. Because of their manipulations, because of that little girl those scientists let die, it's willing to throw away our dream just to save them, the unworthy ones. You have to stop Mewtwo, Latias, you have to-"

Mewtwo concentrated all of its psychic energy into one shock wave and release it throughout the cave. The "Latios" disappeared in a puff of smoke while the Unown floating around them were sucked into their dimension.

"Listen, Latias," Mewtwo said quietly when Latias kept on staring at the spot her 'brother' had disappeared from. "It wasn't really him – it was just an illus-"

Latias, however, wasn't going to listen. Letting out an insanely loud shriek of pure, insane mix of agony and rage, black and purple circles spreading from its body and all over the cave. Mewtwo had no time to dodge as it was hit by the horrible aura imbued with dark thoughts and knocked backwards, the Dark Pulse attack tearing the cave apart and making it collapse while Latias screamed on.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Stern's Shipyard, Slateport City, Hoenn**_

"You want to stay to _what_?!"

"You want to _what_ to study?!"

"I've made up my mind," Iris told Kris and May, crossing her arms. "I told you before, Kris – I came to Hoenn with you to learn. And with professor Ivy," Iris nodded in the professor's direction, Kris giving her an awkward wave, "I can achieve that."

"B-but... where will you sleep?" Kris wondered. "What will you eat? What will you _do_?!"

"Everything has been arranged," professor Ivy promised. "Iris can sleep at one of the city's many hotels and will be taken care of during her stay here. In return, she can help us with her research, her Pokémon will be of good use and she'll do some work for us any way she can."

"Plus," piped in Captain Stern, who had cheerfully accepted Iris' request for work, "if Team Aqua decides to return, she has experience fighting them, and I'll feel a lot safer with Iris around."

"Come on, you're embarrassing me," Iris giggled. "Really, I need to train my Pokémon a _lot_ more if I want to take on those Aquas. I just want to know me and my Pokémon can be of use and help people."

Kris was reminded of something when Iris said that, but this was no time for a flashback. Instead, Kris was overwhelmed by an odd, empty feeling. She thought back to her and Iris' adventure at the Ruins of Alph, Iris staying at her house in preparation for the Silver Conference, all that time spent together on the ship...

_But she has made up her mind – and you gotta appreciate that stubbornness_.

"I'll miss you," Kris muttered at Iris awkwardly.

"Ah, shucks, you don't have to say anything," Iris said. "Really, we still have a good two months before the Hoenn League starts. You can visit me here once you have those last two badges, right? And then we'll challenge the Hoenn League together!"

May sniffed. Then, without warning, she tackled Iris in a hug that confused but still pleased Iris, who patted May on the back awkwardly.

"Until we meet again, Iris!" May said, trying to keep herself strong. "You've taught me more than anyone else could!"

"I'm standing right here," Kris muttered.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Verdanturf Town Contest Hall, Hoenn, a few hours later**_

Lyra's Pokémon had impressed the small-town Coordinators of Verdanturf, Lyra having earned a Normal Rank Ribbon in every single category. Brendan had never felt as excited and jealous at the same time. Posing with Scorch, her Typhlosion, Lyra was being interviewed by Hoenn TV reporter Gabby, her trusty cameraman Ty filming the event. Brendan, who was also hanging at the Contest Hall, took it to himself to 'accidentally' walk past the shot, his ribbon-adorned Pokémon in full view until Ty told him to stop.

After the interview was over, Lyra went happily to chatting with Brendan in all modesty, knowing that a measly string of Normal Rank victories wouldn't do much to her popularity – Gabby had already recognized Lyra as one of the semi-finalists of the Silver Conference.

"I want to make an impact here in Hoenn," Lyra told Brendan. "Something to make sure people remember my name once I enter the League."

"You want to come with me to Fallarbor Town?" Brendan suggested. "I'm going to enter the Super Rank Contest!"

"Mmmnah," Lyra pondered. "Contests are fun, but I think I'm done for a while. Don't you have that other friend to travel with? That girl you talked about? Okay, I get it!" Lyra added when Brendan was reduced to stammering and sputtering indignantly.

Suddenly, Lyra was tapped on the shoulder. Looking behind her, Lyra spotted a man with dark blonde hair and golden brown eyes wearing a blue coat greet her enthusiastically.

"Lyra!" Wes exclaimed. "What a surprise to see you here!"

"Oh, hey, um... you!" Lyra said. "We met at the Silver Conference! Sorry, I didn't bother to remember your name."

"Wha... um, it's Wes. What a coincidence to see you in Hoenn!"

"Well, how could I not?" Lyra asked cheerfully and patted her Typhlosion affectionately. "My Pokémon and me need new challenges! I was just wondering about the best way to do that!"

"Pokémon Contests, of course!" Brendan argued. "Hi there, sir," he greeted Wes. "My name's Brendan – are you looking for talent, too?"

"Um, no, just saying hello to my friend Lyra here, Brandon," Wes muttered and ignored Brendan for now. "Do you have anything in mind, Lyra?"

"Well, maybe challenging more gyms... I already have eight badges, but a few more couldn't hurt-"

"Or," Wes suggested slyly, "you could make a name for yourselves through showing this region how it's done. You have experience fighting teams of villains with poor fashion sense, right?"

"Yup!" Lyra said proudly. "I struck fear in the hearts of Team Rocket back at the Ilex Forest!"

"Well, then, the best way to make this region appreciate you is to do something to the Team Whatever infestation they've had lately. You know, all those Magmas and Aquas... I'd recommend you head out to the Weather Institute. It's in the north, near Fortree City. I have a feeling something will go down there soon..."


	6. Spore of Darkrai

**Chapter Six: _S__pore__ of Darkrai _**

_**Location: Mt. Chimney, Hoenn**_

Lance and his Dragonite had landed on the volcano near Lavaridge Town. He had caught word that Team Magma were about to attempt to use their stolen meteorite to force the volcano to erupt or something dumb like that. Lance didn't particularly care – he wanted the two groups plaguing Hoenn to stop their stupid crap and he was prepared to do blow them up if that was required to let the lesson sink in.

But as he arrived, Lance was quick to spot that someone, or rather, some_thing_ had done his job for him. There were signs of conflict everywhere, explosions having torn the place apart, blood having spilled all over the place and plenty of Team Magma grunts and their Pokémon lying about. Some were nearly dead – the rest were very _actually_ dead, along with some Poochyena, Mightyena, Numel and a single Camerupt.

As Lance walked through the desolation, he spotted movement near the Camerupt. Moving briskly but keeping his face calm and stoic, he walked to the other side of the massive Camerupt, noticing a man with a red mullet clutch to his many wounds and attempt to drag himself up. Lance felt no empathy, no sorrow over what had happened, just crouched next to the man, his face as blank as always.

"Maxie," Lance muttered. "The leader of Team Magma. You know, you'd be more useful to me alive, but I doubt help will reach you in time."

A drip of blood running down his chin, Maxie used all his energy to turn himself on his back, able to look at Lance, seeing him as he was watching him through fog. Weakly, he raised his arm towards him, Lance just staring at him and wondering what the point of the gesture was.

"...listen," Maxie muttered weakly. "...Aqua... they..."

"Just because you're slowly bleeding out doesn't excuse poor grammar," Lance said mercilessly. "Talk properly, please. Did Team Aqua do this? Another civil war between you two crazies?"

"...no... I think not," Maxie said hoarsely. "...something they sent. A Pokémon... powerful... _too_ powerful... took the... the..."

"What?" Lance asked and grabbed Maxie by the collar of his shirt. "What did that Pokémon want from you?"

"Orb..." Maxie muttered. "Tabitha... betrayed... it has the orb..."

Then, Maxie started coughing blood, some of it getting on Lance's face. After a coughing fit, Maxie's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed on the ground, limp and motionless. Before he had time to consider Maxie's needlessly cryptic last words, his Xtransceiver rang. As he only used it for certain situations, he had a good idea who it was.

"Talk to me," Lance said flatly as he answered the call.

"_Hello, Laa-aance~_" a cheerful voice on the other end sang.

"Wallace," Lance grumbled. "Thank goodness it's a secure line, you shouldn't just blurt my name out like that. If this is about your Luvdisc again, I'm not listening."

"_Well, all right_," Wallace said, sounding like he was pouting. "_But I __just called you to ask your opinion on something. I think the Wise Trio need a new name, but the Wise 'Duo' just doesn't sound right_."

"What are you talking about?"

"_Hm? Oh, right, you hadn't heard. __Turns out Sage Broderick was visitin__g__ Hoenn for some reason. He found some nice ruins __at the desert around Route 111, and some writing related to that fancy little thing Stevie boy is searching_."

"The Enigma Stone," Lance muttered. "Wait... Broderick, is he-"

"_Yup, old Brody bit the dust. __Strangest thing, too – it's like __he just-_"

"Exploded?"

"_Yeah, how'd you know_?"

"I'm at Mt. Chimney, and I see some other people got the same treatment. Namely most of Team Magma's finest, Maxie included, it seems. It looks like they're finished, but I doubt Team Aqua could pull something like this off."

"_I think __our bearded buddy Brody got blown __to bits__ because of what he __found, but why do that to __Team Magma_?"

"I have an idea, but I have to ask Steven first. Can you contact him?"

"_I'll try, but he can be such a lazy bum sometimes. __That is, if he's not ill again. Did you hear __he had to be saved by a bunch of kids a while back? Well, teens, but who cares._"

"No, I didn't. But if Sage Broderick is dead, that means whatever is behind this might be gunning for us next, so watch yourself – and tell Steven to call me!"

"_Will dooo-ooo~" _Wallace crooned. "_Sounds like you have a plan_."

"It's a long shot," Lance grumbled. "And it means having to do stuff I don't want to – but it looks like we don't have much time."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Fallarbor Town Contest Hall, Hoenn**_

"_Kris' log, day 2__0__ in Hoenn. __Well, it's been two weeks since me and May left Slateport City. While I miss Iris, __I can't help but to __feel proud that May is actually listening to me and heeding my advice. We both got a badge at the Mauville Gym, __mostly because Wattson had been hospitalized __for unknown reasons, so we fought some sn__iveling__ punk who had taken over the gym for him – we both got a badge there_."

"_Then it was off to Lavaridge Town. __Despite our training at Mt. Chimney and the Jagged Pass, the heat of the gym was a little too much for me, __yet May persevered and took on Flannery, getting her fourth badge. __Seriously, that girl freaks me out. __At least she's not flipping her snot __when a battle isn't going so well – though she did get us kicked out of the hot springs because of an incident. No, it's not what you think, you hypothetical deviant who might some day come across this journal – __we didn't even get in because May insisted on swimming au naturel, as the Kalosians say, which was apparently a hygiene issue_."

"_Who knows what she thinks."_

"_So, after an exhausting __trip through the desert which took _days _(seriously, they send _kids_ to walk through that desert, what the eff?)_ _we have finally arrived in Fallarbor Town. I'm here to see the Meteor Falls, but I have no idea why May was so eager to come here. She wanted to stay in the Contest Hall for a while, so here I am – oh, and now my PokéGear is ringing. It rang once, twice, thrice – I should probably __stop writing and pick up the phone, because __I'm getting strange looks._"

Kris put her journal away and grabbed the PokéGear from her pocket, too lazy to even look at the caller id.

"Hello?" Kris said in a rude tone. "What is it?"

"_Um, ah, yes, hello_," replied a slightly nasal, quiet voice on the other end. "_Am I speaking to Kris from New Bark Town?_"

"Professor Elm!" Kris explained, a grin slowly appearing on her face as she recognized the voice. "It's been... gosh, I mean... wow, it's so good to hear from you!"

"_Er, likewise, __Kris, yes, very good_," Elm stuttered in his usual way. "_I know you and Iris talked about going to __Hoenn before leaving Johto and I received a call from her a few days ago – it seems like she's adjusting well to life at the Shipyard_."

"Of course she has," Kris smiled. "So you called me to catch up?"

"_In a sense, yes, but __I actually have some new information for you. Do you remember – oh, uh, poor choice of words, sorry, I'm sure you remember the Masked Man_."

Kris winced and didn't reply, but felt a chilling sensation in her back just thinking about him.

"_Even though he's no longer a threat, __I have gathered data on him. Leaf and Silver have been very helpful t-_"

"Silver," Kris interjected in a deadpan voice. "_The_ Silver. _Helpful_."

Kris rubbed her throat, another painful memory coming back. Yes, Silver had helped Kris fighting Neo Team Rocket and apparently had helped Lyra and Kurt protect Celebi from their goons, but her forgiveness was something he had to earn the hard way.

"_I know your opinion of him, but he does feel like a changed man. He actually offered to return the Pokémon he __stole__, but seeing as it is a Meganium now and that it actually seems pleased to travel with him, I dropped the issue._"

"Yeah, great, but he doesn't seem intent on returning the Sneasel," Kris muttered. "I mean, I had to return Shuckle to that guy, so what gives?"

"_Anyway, __we've uncovered some, um, unsavory things about the Masked – um, Pryce. __As you may recall, __he spent countless years traveling around Johto, Kanto and the Sevii Islands, kidnapping __children, some whom he returned after a short while and others who had to stay for years, some who are _still _missing._"

Kris nodded solemnly, then realized she was on the phone.

"_At first we believed his targets were orphans, mistreated children and runaways, but __we have __narrowed things down even more We believe it has something to do with what is called the 'spore of Darkrai'_."

Kris didn't have to rake her mind much. The Silver Conference, four months ago, former gym leader and current criminal on the run Janine had mentioned it, and her words had stayed with Kris for a long time, even if she had no idea what they meant.

"_Well, it has some alternate names too, like the 'dark spore' and-_"

**~o~O~o~**

"-seed of Darkrai," Wes mumbled to himself as he read the documents he had gathered. "I know I've heard that name before..."

Wes was in Lilycove City, having went straight there after escorting Lyra to the Weather Institute as promised. At the moment, he was sitting in the luxurious waiting room of the Pokémon Association's Hoenn HQ, relaxed on the couch, feet on the table and hand rummaging through the bowl of hard candy left for the visitors. It was time for him to meet his 'mysterious benefactor', or as Wes liked to call him, 'that annoying titbag who kept telling him what to do'. Wes had tried gathering info on him, but came up short, as the only thing he had to work with was his first name, and Wes was sure that 'Cheren' was faker than Gonzap's pecs.

_I wish there was someone around to get that_.

He didn't have to wait for long, though, as an assistant came to the waiting room, informing Wes that Cheren would see him now. Grabbing the documents with him and stuffing his pockets full of candy, Wes marched straight into his office.

Cheren turned out to be a young, bespectacled, dark-haired man, probably around Wes' age, wearing a suit with a blue jacket. He was waiting for Wes in a luxurious office with a mahogany desk, panoramic window, statues and paintings of legendary Pokémon about and comfy leather chairs and sofas scattered around for no particular reason. Cheren himself sat behind his desk, his feet on the table and a pile of papers on his lap, occasionally taking a break from his 'hard work' to take a sip from the martini glass he held precariously in his other hand.

_I want to punch him so much_.

"Wesley, my friend!" Cheren greeted jovially, though he couldn't be arsed to get off his chair. "It's so good to meet you at last! Have a seat! Care for a drink?"

"No, I'm fine," Wes grumbled as he sat on the comfy leather chair by Cheren's desk. "Oh, wow, this is pretty nice," Wes remarked and stroked the chair's armrests, but was quickly snapped out of it. "Look, I only came here to-"

"Shushushush!" Cheren hissed suddenly and grabbed a remote from the table, pointing it at the extravagant TV hanging from the wall. "It's time for the news! We'll watch them and _then_ get to business"

"I really don't care," Wes muttered. "It's gonna be all 'everything is horrible' again..."

"Trust me," Cheren said pointedly, "you'll want to watch this broadcast."

Wes threw his hands in the air and leaned back on his chair to watch as Cheren turned the TV on. For now, a reporter was interviewing some business person in Sinnoh who had blue, spiky hair. He didn't show much emotion on his face, but had a voice that made you listen.

"_...__Galaxy Incorporated has further plans for expansion. We have opened a new building in Eterna City and __expanded our headquarters at Veilstone City. We will feverishly continue to develop alternate energy sources thanks to madam Sird's generous donations_."

"_Thank you_," the reporter said. "_That was Cyrus, CEO of Galaxy Incorporated. Back to you in the studio_."

"Is this what you wanted me to see?" Wes wondered, but Cheren just put his finger on his lips and pointed at the screen. Wes sighed, but continued to watch.

"_Also, breaking news from the crisis at the Weather Institute-"_

Wes leaned forward, frowning at the TV at the place being mentioned.

"_-it seems the crisis turned out to be an attack by a band of unidentified criminals. __The crisis was solved before police even had to be involved, however, as Pokémon Trainer Lyra from New Bark Town had been staying at the Institute for several days. __Apparently experienced in fighting crime, the young Pokémon Trainer and her Typhlosion rescued the employees and their experimental Pokémon Castform, defeating the criminals and keeping them locked up long enough for the police __to arrive_."

"_I was just lucky to be there_," said Lyra, the screen now showing her and Scorch in full view. "_Pokémon Trainers don't just obsess over the strength of themselves and their Pokémon, we exist to help the people – really, I just did what anyone else in my place would have done. Admittedly, I probably did a lot better, but still_-"

Cheren turned the TV off, while Wes turned to stare at him with his mouth open.

"You didn't..." he muttered.

"Yeah, those 'unidentified criminals' were your pals from Team Aqua," Cheren said cheerfully. "I guess _someone_ leaked them information about the Weather Institute having what they needed... _after_ you made sure our friend from Johto got there. Good timing, huh?"

"And you happened to know the exact time they were telling about it on the news?" Wes asked incredulously.

Cheren just cocked an eyebrow at Wes and smiled obnoxiously. Wes couldn't help but to smile, too, though his was lacking in any real joy or amusement.

"Okay, I get what I'm dealing with," Wes said. "Doesn't mean I have to like it, but..."

"Yes, and you need to continue doing it," Cheren said bluntly, still smiling. "You heard the news – 'unidentified' criminals. Someone from Team Aqua is still influencing the media – we only captured a small number of them. They also caused grief in Slateport City not long after you left, your buddy Kris getting in the middle!"

"Kris!" Wes snapped. "Is she...?"

Wes could read the answer from the smug expression on Cheren's face and calmed down.

"Do you know what they're after?" Wes asked Cheren.

"I only have theories," Cheren said, "but I intend to gather the local gym leaders to a summit. Perhaps we'll figure something out. In the meantime, go to Mt. Pyre. I think you passed it on your way here. I want you to-"

"Whoa, whoa!" Wes said and tossed the papers he was carrying on Cheren's desk. "What about these? You promised to tell me what the haps was with that spore slash seed slash whatever thingy?"

"Eloquently put," Cheren remarked and gave a cursory glance at the papers but didn't seem too interested. "So I'm guessing you're not aware what Darkai is?"

Wes bit his lip, annoyed by Cheren's condescension, but shook his head anyway. Cheren smirked.

"Very well," he said and got up from his chair, beginning to pace around. "Darkrai is what people call a 'legendary' Pokémon. Its existence has been a topic of debate and often denied by the officials, but a persisting rumor claims it inhabits Newmoon Island off the coast of Sinnoh. Since even the most hardened sailors have no reason to get there and the island has been almost impossible to reach since it was discovered, often shrouded in an unnaturally thick fog. It is said to have the ability to torment people with nightmares."

"I bet it's fun at parties," Wes said.

"Because of the widespread belief that Darkrai is trapped on Newmoon Island, it is said that it counters this by spreading its sphere of influence by emitting spores from its body that allow it to use its powers to people hundreds, even thousands of miles away. However, other sources claim these 'spores' have beneficial traits. They are said to give the people they're infected with advantageous traits, like heightened reflexes, faster healing, being able to survive blows lethal to normal humans, that kind of thing. Nothing extraordinary, and the powers they give apparently can't be tapped into by will, but I can still think of people who'd be interested in them."

"Kris asked me about them once," Wes remembered suddenly. "Do you think-"

"Incidentally," Cheren interrupted, took a piece of paper from his drawer and planted it on his desk, "the spores are said to be one of the few things that grant protection from the mind-reading powers of _this_ little fella."

Wes looked at the paper, suddenly feeling the hair on his neck stand up. It was just a sketch of a small, black letter-shaped Pokémon with one, googly eye in the middle and no other facial features, limbs or anything else that humans and Pokémon usually had. The thing looked more alien than anything Wes had ever seen, Wes having seen these Pokémon only once in his life – an incident he would rather not go back to.

Wes still remembered seeing hundreds of those little Pokémon orbit around an enormous glowing ball of energy, all chanting their name in unison in a high-pitched voice. Flashes of the purple, hellish landscape they inhabited poured their way into Wes' mind, Wes grimacing and shaking his head at the thought.

"I'm sorry," Cheren said immediately and pulled the picture away. "I didn't know you were still-"

"I'm fine!" Wes insisted. "I just need to know if... well, I don't even know if I can trust you yet."

"I wouldn't even keep you around if you did," Cheren said breezily. "I didn't hire you for your looks, Wesley. But I'm not exactly sure what do you want me to do to win that trust – I thought we were just working towards mutually advantageous goals."

"That bit with the news, impressive as it was, seemed more like just showing off," Wes pointed out.

Cheren chuckled. "Yeah, it was partly that."

"I need something a little more concrete than that. You promised me, after all."

Cheren tapped his chin and looked contemplative, exaggeratedly so. "Oh? I don't remember making any promise."

"Don't-" Wes inhaled deep. "I help you, and in return, not only do I get paid, but you're going to help me find that sick bastard who was in charge of that Navel Rock crudstorm."

Cheren pressed his fingers together and looked at Wes, this time actually contemplating seriously. Wes stared right back at him for several seconds until Cheren nodded.

"I promise to help you with that," Cheren said quietly. "And I do remember. Trust me, if parts of the upper echelon are corrupt, I need to know exactly what they're up to. And any info we might uncover just might kick me up a rank or two..."

"Yeah, I figured," Wes grumbled when Cheren started staring at the ceiling with a devilish smirk on his face. "Well, you may be an annoying upstart, but I'd rather see you rise up this ladder than anyone else."

"Stop, you're making me blush," Cheren laughed. "Now, about Mt. Pyre..."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Meanwhile, back in Fallarbor Town...**_

"Lyra did _WHAT_?!" Kris yelled into her PokéGear, getting more strange looks from the people at the Contest Hall.

"_Yes, quite impressive, isn't it_?" Elm said proudly. "_That and the Silver Conference – oh, and all the great things you have been doing, too, of course – New Bark Town is finally getting up the map. Maybe someone will actually recognize my research too, for once..._"

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," Kris grumbled. "And all by herself?"

"_With her Pokémon, obviously, but otherwise, um, yes. __I did hear about her trip to Hoenn. I told Iris to get in contact with her, too. I think the Weather Institute gave __Lyra__ their new Pokémon as a reward. __I thought she'd be more focused on training, but it seems like she really is getting the hang of the altruism Pokémon trainers should have_-"

Kris made indignant hissing and sputtering sounds into the phone which finally made Elm stop praising Lyra.

"_Um, you know, I think Lyra would be happy to see you if you gave her a chance-_"

"And _I_ think that for such a smart guy, you can be pretty dumb. She doesn't want to see me and _I _most certainly don't want to see her! Doesn't anyone ever get that? At least she's on the other side of the region, and I'm not going anywhere near that place for a while."

"_Oh, yes, __where in Hoenn were you now, exactly_?"

"Fallarbor Town," Kris said and walked over to a map of the Hoenn region posted on the wall of almost every public building. "It's this dusty little village way up in the north, you can smell Mt. Chimney wherever you go. I'm _supposed_ to check out Meteor Falls, but May is taking her sweet time with something."

"_Fallarbor? Oh, um, good, very good, yes. Uh, Kris, I... well, I can't believe I'm suggesting this, but I think there's a man you should __meet. His name is Professor Cozmo._"

"Okay. And?"

"_Well, he and I were colleagues once. We studied at Saffron University under Professor Oak's tutelage and were pretty, __um, close. __But, well, these things occasionally blow apart and we __ended up drifting... he was fairly bitter when I was chosen as Johto's regional professor instead of him, so he moved to Hoenn. Still, I do recognize his work and his dedication, and he might just know about that strange writing you've been asking about._"

"Oh... that is actually helpful! Thanks, professor!"

"Kris, come on!" May suddenly yelled, Kris finally waking back into reality. "It's starting."

Kris had no idea what 'it' was, just nodded politely before going back to her conversation.

"Well, I gotta go," she said. "If you see Blaine, tell him to keep down the crazy. And thanks for telling me about that Darkrai thing."

"_Well, I haven't seen him since you left Johto, but I'll try. __And you're welcome.__ Take care of yourself, Kris_."

With that, Kris hung up and followed May past the Contest Hall's waiting room and to the audience's seats. Apparently May had already paid Kris' ticket for the Contest – or, to be more precise, May had stolen money from Kris' bag and _then_ paid for both of the tickets. Kris tried to grumble in protest, but May shushed her and forced her to sit down in the front row.

Kris was never much for Pokémon Contests, and seeing dolled-up Coordinators parade around their even more dolled-up Pokémon, wasting their perfectly fight-worthy move to be as flashy as possible just caused both boredom and disgust in her. Surely, the _real_ deal of Pokémon was in competitive bloodsports and beating foes senseless...

_Hmm..._

Regardless, Kris would have never thought of May to be a Contest fan. And sure enough, as the duo watched Coordinators make their appeals, i.e. making the Pokémon do moves in stylish ways, she seemed barely awake, leaning against the railing between the audience and the stage.

The announcer explained this to be a 'Super Rank Beauty Contest', though that said nothing to Kris. After two appeals, it was the turn of a tall, purple-haired man in a strange green costume, whose Banette surprised everyone with an Icy Wind attack. Blowing a visible blue breeze of air from its mouth, the wind contained icy sparkles which, upon landing, immediately froze whatever they touched. As all the sparkles landed, even Kris couldn't hide her surprise when the sparkles had formed a perfect snowflake pattern all over the stage. The crowd went practically nuts and even the judges looked stunned as they gave out their scores.

"Well, that was pretty neat, I suppose," Kris acknowledged as she turned to look at May. "But why did you bring me-"

"Shh!" May hissed and pointed at the stage. "Look!"

At first, Kris had to squint to see what May was pointing at. A short boy wearing a white hat more suitable for winter walked on the stage – except as Kris looked even more closely, the boy seemed to be as old as she was, yet a few inches shorter. And did he look fabulous! He had prominent reddish-brown eyes, and Kris was sure he was wearing a little eyeliner, as well as trimmed, stylish eyebrows that made Kris ashamed of her own lack of care in that area. His black hair could be partially seen sticking from under his hat, falling carelessly on his eyes.

He was accompanied by a big, blue bird Pokémon with a long neck and a torso and wings that looked like they were made from white, fluffy clouds. The Pokémon was just as pretty as its trainer, and Kris just had to scan this one.

"_Altaria, the Humming Pokémon and the evolved form of Swablu, type Dragon and Flying. It is said to fly among the clouds and sing with its beautiful soprano voice, capable of calming any human and Pokémon and make them feel as if they're in a dream_-"

"Aww, that's nice," Kris said.

"_-using that opportunity to its advantage, Altaria can then roast its enemy with a destructive fireball reaching a heat of five thousand degrees Celsius._"

"You made that up," Kris told the PokéDex.

"_Username Kris is, as usual, incorrect. Behold_," SkrillDex informed and put up the text it had just read out loud on its screen, officially signed by the admins of the great Pokémon database.

"Well I'll be damned," Kris said. "Beautiful _and_ badass. I need to catch myself a good Pokémon like that, too. I haven't caught any good ones from Hoenn yet, you know. Any suggestions?"

"_This unit will stick to its pride instead of assisting ignorant meatbags – it advises username Kris to consult the knowledgeable, short human the unit has titled 'hedgehair'._"

Kris sighed. "She's not here at the moment – and since when have you been able to create nicknames?"

"_A pity, as her presence and adequate knowledge would prevent username Kris from whipping out this unit even at the slightest provocation. It advises the user to open a book once or twice_."

"Ehh, shut up," Kris told the PokéDex and tossed it back in her bag.

May hadn't listened at all. She was focused on the Altaria and the Coordinator's appeal. Despite the green-suited man's impressive efforts earlier, the short, young Coordinator wasn't bothered at all. He whispered something to the Altaria, which nodded and flew up in the air. Opening its mouth, it launched a powerful stream of fire into the air.

When Kris thought this appeal was pretty mundane, the fire suddenly changed direction, Altaria's reserves being apparently bottomless as it kept using its flamethrower attack continuously. The burst of fire traveled along the path of the frozen snowflake pattern on the ground, slowly melting and evaporating it into steam. Then, Altaria stopped breathing fire and flapped its wings once in a big gesture, blowing the steam all over the field. Both the Coordinator and his Altaria were obscured by the steam for a few seconds, and when the steam finally cleared, the crowd and judges went absolutely wild. At first, Kris couldn't see why.

Then she noticed the pattern that had appeared on the sandy ground: using the water from Banette's Icy Wind, the Altaria had rearranged the snowflake pattern into an image of the Coordinator's face. Roses were tossed at him while the Coordinator posed and bowed at every possible direction, especially the judges, who stood up to make a standing ovation.

Nobody clapped harder than May, who had also stood up, applauded and whistled, half of her body dangling past the railing, as if she was trying to attract the Coordinator's attention. The Coordinator didn't seem to notice, as he just patted his Altaria affectionately (the Altaria's tongue hanging out and head hanging in exhaustion) and returned backstage with it. Oddly enough, when Kris gave her a funny look for this outburst, May blushed and started fiddling with her hair, sitting down quietly.

And just like that, everything connected in Kris' mind. The excited way May talked about heading to the Contest Hall, the look on her face when the young Coordinator did his thing, her almost endless enthusiasm about going into Fallarbor Town... yes, it all added up.

"You're..." Kris muttered.

May hung her head and blushed even more.

"...secretly a Contest fangirl!" Kris deduced, prompting May to forger about her embarrassment and glare at Kris.

When Kris still didn't seem to get it, May groaned, climbed on the railing and jumped into the field despite protests from security.

"You're not supposed to – oh, Magi-crap!" Kris grumbled and went after May.

Kris followed May as the girl ran backstage. May followed the Coordinator's tracks like a wild animal as Kris could practically swear she sniffed the air a few times. She also pursued her target single-mindedly, ignoring Kris' meager attempts to tell her to calm down.

When May crashed into the men's dressing room, Kris wondered if they could get arrested for this, but followed May anyway while covering her face with her hand, ready to turn away in case there was an invasion of naked males.

But there was only one person there, fully clothed and surrounded by his Pokémon. It was the Coordinator with the Altaria, who also had a Marshtomp, a Delcatty and a Manectric.

"I have a feeling that ribbon will be ours," the Coordinator told his Altaria. "Good job, the whole team, for a while I didn't even think it was possible to _HOLY ARCEUS MAY!_"

"Brendan," May said through gritted teeth.

Kris watched the ensuing scene in confusion. Did May enjoy stalking and frightening helpless Coordinators?

_Hang on, Brendan... hasn't she mentioned that name before?_

"M-may," Brendan stuttered weakly. "This... oh no, tell me I didn't go to the women's dressing room by mistake again..."

May scoffed. "Is that all you have to say? We haven't seen each other in three weeks!"

"Oh, right," Brendan said awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Um... how is your quest going?"

"Well," May said tensely. "I have four badges."

Brendan nodded. "Good, good – um, oh yeah, I got past the Super Rank already, both my Delcatty and Manectric have two ribbons and I have a feeling I have the Beauty ribbon in the bag as well!"

"Um..." Kris introduced herself, causing Brendan to finally notice her. "That's a cool Altaria you've got there."

"Thanks!" Brendan said cheerfully and threw himself against the Pokémon, hugging its soft, cloud-like body. "As soon as I saw a Swablu, I thought, 'it would be a crime against beauty to not to let this majestic Pokémon compete in the Contests'. And then it _evolved_! Sooo pretty!"

"Wha – oh, right, Brendan, Kris, Kris, Brendan," May said impatiently. "So, I guess we're even, huh?" she remarked to Brendan. "And you're not quite as frail as I thought – all of your Pokémon have evolved."

Brendan just smiled proudly. May moved a bit closer to him, narrowing her eyes as she inspected Brendan up close.

"Are you wearing makeup?" she wondered, licked her thumb and tried to wipe it off Brendan's face despite the boy's resistance. "Come on, hold still, I have to get it off you!"

"Stop!" Brendan wailed pathetically, making Kris feel sorry for the boy – May was freakishly strong when she put her mind to it. "I have to be on stage again soon!"

"Well, _I_ think you looked good out there," Kris said.

"Thank you!" Brendan said pointedly. "I mean, I usually just curl my lashes, but seeing as this was the Beauty category, I thought it was only fair for my Pokémon to go all-out."

And indeed, as Brendan nodded at his Pokémon, Marshtomp, Manectric, Delcatty and Altaria posed in what was obviously a rehearsed formation, all of them with slight layers of makeup on. Manectric looked cool and aloof, Delcatty winked cutely, Altaria showed off its wings and Marshtomp just smiled cheerfully and hogged the center of the formation. May let go of Brendan and stared at his Pokémon in shock. Brendan noticed May's look and quickly stepped between her and them:

"They all agreed to this!" Brendan said hastily. "I wouldn't doll them up if they didn't want to – though I can't see why they _wouldn't_ want, of course."

"That's so cool!" Kris praised as she looked at the Pokémon pose. "You've trained them so well!"

While Brendan and his Pokémon beamed, May shot Kris a pointed glare. Kris couldn't understand why. And why was May acting like she hadn't been staring at Brendan all throughout the appeal-

_Oh. OHHH!_

"Oh!" Kris exclaimed and quickly covered her mouth.

May turned away again, blushing so much that her face almost matched her bandanna. Kris tried to suppress laughter while Brendan just looked confused, until someone stormed into the dressing room to inform that the jury had finished counting the points and all Contestants had to get on stage in two minutes. Brendan hastily withdrew his Pokémon except for Altaria, and together with the big blue bird, rushed back on stage without even a cursory glance at May.

When Kris and May were left alone, May glared at Kris, who was still covering her mouth with both of her hands to stop a burst of laughter from coming out.

"_What_?!" May snapped at her.

"Nothing," Kris snickered. "Just... wow."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you'll get big yuks out of this," May grumbled, "but I don't. I don't even know why I had to fall for a ponce like him."

Kris tried her best to cool herself down. "Um, does he know?"

"He doesn't know anything," May sighed. "And I mean that. Even though I've actually told this to him, he still doesn't get it!"

"When?"

"A few weeks after he first moved to Hoenn," May muttered. "I ran into him wearing an outfit made of grass-"

Kris wasn't even surprised.

"-and he offered to make 'proper' clothes for me," May continued. "I wouldn't care, but he did help me out with a bunch of wild Poochyena... in his own way."

"He kicked their asses?" Kris asked.

"He offered them stuff he had baked," May muttered, and Kris almost burst out laughing again. "Yeah, I know, it's embarrassing, but it worked, and after he offered to make clothes for me... well, it was just such a nice thing to do. But later, when he had finished making those clothes and I told him how I felt... in my own way-"

Kris imagined it involved violence, throwing feces at Brendan's house or both. May's expression got a lot more menacing, though.

"-he just started avoiding the issue and putting it off for so long. When we made the bet three weeks ago, we hadn't seen each other in two years. I hadn't thought about him _that_ much during that time, but when I saw him again – ugh, whatever, if he doesn't get it or if he's too much of a coward to give me a direct answer, I'm done. I'm not waiting and I'm _not_ going to cry about it!"

"I never suggested anything like that," Kris said hastily. "But... since you came all this way to see him, maybe we should take him along? I have a lead and he lives in town. He could even be of help."

"I strongly doubt that," May muttered, "but whatever, I _guess_ it's okay."

Soon afterward, Kris, May and Brendan headed for professor Cozmo's laboratory, where they met more difficulty when the professor's assistant (whose name wasn't Wanda despite Kris repeatedly asking that) told the group that he was likely at the Meteor Falls – and in fact, had been 'researching' something there for three days now. Since retrieving the professor was above the assistant's pay grade, Kris, May and Brendan had to head towards the Meteor Falls next.

This made Kris regret bringing Brendan along. For one, he kept bragging about the fancy new Normal Rank Beauty Ribbon his Altaria had won and kept showing it off to everyone. On top of that, May became pretty unbearable around him, and the bickering between the two made Kris believe she was going to pop a vein in her head soon. May had initially tried to get Brendan up to speed about what they had done so far, but when everything May had said to Brendan was prefaced with an insult or mean remark, Kris had to step in and take over.

"So what are you doing in Fallarbor, anyway?" Brendan asked May pointedly as they walked along Route 114. "There are no gyms up here, and I didn't think you had the attention span to watch a Contest all the way through."

"I only came here because Kris wanted to see the Meteor Falls!" May argued. "You should be thankful you happened to be in our way! And this is the fastest route to Petalburg City!"

"Puh... Petalburg?" Brendan stuttered. "But... why do you want to go back there?"

"I need a fifth badge! You know the gym leader there, don't you, _Brendan_?"

"I... you..."

"You're really afraid of your own dad? He's a gym leader, you know, you could actually learn a thing or two from him!"

"Shut up!" Brendan snapped.

"Yes, please," Kris grumbled.

Kris had seen the look on Brendan's face as May talked about his dad, and didn't want May to harangue him about it any longer. Kris knew all too well what hating your own family felt like, but also knew that certain things were best when said out loud.

"So, you're Norman's son, then?" Kris asked Brendan.

"Mm," Brendan said irritably.

"You don't have to answer this, but what's he like?"

"He's a mean old man who doesn't realize that times change," Brendan grumbled. "I don't care how many people admire him, he's still a big jerk. He doesn't have even the slightest understanding of Pokémon Contests, of the fantastic beauty Pokémon can display, of the feeling you get when the audience is dazzled by your radiance and-"

"Okay, I get it," Kris said. "Let's... let's just get to the falls."

But as Kris, May and Brendan climbed up the mountain and arrived to the entrance of the cave, Brendan suddenly pushed Kris and May behind a rock while hiding behind it himself, having spotted something.

"What?!" May grunted.

Brendan shushed. "See that?" he asked and pointed at the entrance.

A man in peculiar clothing stood watch at the cave's entrance. He was wearing a red uniform of some kind, his face mostly shrouded by a hood with devil horns sticking out of it. Though Kris hadn't seen that kind of uniform before, the flame emblem on the man's shirt did give a crucial clue.

"Team Magma?" Kris whispered.

Brendan nodded slightly. "I ran into some of them on my way to Fallarbor. A bunch of them were massing around Mt. Chimney."

"Must have come after we left," Kris commented.

"So what'd you do when you saw them?" May asked Brendan bitingly. "Ran away squealing and crying like a kid?"

Brendan didn't bother answering.

"I think we know why Cozmo has been gone," Kris commented. "Any ideas?" Kris asked, and when May opened her mouth, quickly added: "_Without _alerting anyone else in the cave."

"Leave that to me!" Brendan said boisterously and suddenly stood up, leaving the hiding spot. "Back in Goldenrod, I _was_ known as 'the Charmer', after all."

"No you weren't," May deadpanned.

Brendan marched to the entrance, completely ignoring the Team Magma grunt who eyed him suspiciously but didn't leave his post. Kris and May sat quietly behind their rock and listened.

"Good afternoon," Brendan said cheerfully. "I'm here to visit the _beautiful_ Meteor Falls."

"Closed," the Magma Grunt said flatly. "Hazard. Collapse. Whatever."

"But I _really _want to go," Brendan whined. "You see, mister, it was the fondest dream of my beloved father to once visit the Meteor Falls. He had worked hard to support me and my mother all his life, ignoring his dream for our sake, promising us he'd take us there one day."

Brendan grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and sneezed into it while sobbing theatrically.

"But fate had chosen a different path," Brendan gasped. "Years of hard labor for negligent pay caused my father to be stricken with, um... Verhoeven's syndrome. Yeah, he had that. Heard of it?"

"No."

"Well, then he had that. Anyway, on his deathbed, my father grabbed my hand, turned his foggy, bloodshot eyes at me, a faint smile on his lips, and whispered 'please, my son, fulfill my dream for me – go and see the Meteor Falls'."

Brendan ended his story with an obviously fake sniff. The Magma Grunt... laughed.

"Funny story," the grunt said. "Get!"

"Wow, not the reaction I expected," Brendan muttered, putting his hands in his pockets. "Well, I guess I have to try a different approach... take _that!"_

Grabbing a fistful of glitter from his pocket, Brendan tossed it at the grunt's eyes. As the grunt _somehow_ yelled in pain about how he was seeing nothing but brilliant sparkles, May and Kris rushed out from their hiding spot while Brendan covered the grunt's mouth with his glove. Within seconds, May had pounced on the grunt, tied him and gagged him, though she didn't seem to appreciate Brendan's strategy.

"You attacked him with _glitter_?" she said in disgust. "What kind of trainer are you?!"

"How many times do I have to say it?" Brendan groaned. "I'm a Pokémon Coordinator, and soon, the greatest Coordinator there is! And it worked, didn't it?"

"Let's just get in," Kris grumbled.

Inside the mountain, the Meteor Falls were a damp, roomy cave with a river flowing inside, several waterfalls constantly crashing down and drowning out the sounds caused by the trio's entry. The upper levels of the cave were pretty much inaccessible, but below the group, there was a bunch of Team Magma grunts, five in total. There was also a disheveled scientist with spiky brown hair in the mix, his lab coat badly torn. He seemed malnourished and defeated to the point of just sitting on the ground with his hands tied, staring blankly into nowhere.

As Kris was about to ask May and Brendan if they had any plan, she heard menacing growling from behind her. The trio turned slowly around, finding themselves face to face with a Houndoom, a Team Magma member with black hair and a heavy amount of makeup looking at them smugly while chewing gum.

"You were pretty sharp kids to get in here," she said. "If you're here for Cozmo, we can make a deal..."

Kris motioned at the others to be still.

"Yeah, yeah, you got us," she told the Magma member calmly. "What's on your mind?"

"Ms. Courtney!" yelled one of the grunts from below. "Do you need help?"

"I got this!" Courtney replied. "Well, see, we've been stuck in here for a third day in the row now. Most of our unit went to Mt. Chimney to do a little experiment with professor Cozmo's meteorite. Once we've confirmed it really works, the professor can go. Problem is, we haven't heard anything and we've been getting just a _little_ antsy. We're running out of food, too, but the boss specifically told us not to leave. We have a lot on the line here."

"Like what?"

"Team Magma is dedicated to expanding Hoenn's landmass," Courtney explained oddly politely. "I only want to make sure the boss' dream comes true – I don't really care about the specifics. So why don't _you_ three go and confirm our boss' whereabouts and we'll let ol' Cozmo go."

"Like crap we're doing that!" May yelled. "We're leaving here with the professor _now_ and you'll-"

"May!" Kris snapped and turned back to Courtney. "Sorry about that, you can just ignore her. Yeah, we can do that."

"Kris!" May protested. "We can't make deals with people like this."

"Yeah, I'm with May!" Brendan said. "I've heard enough horror stories about Team Magma."

But as Kris made eye contact with May, the latter smiled slightly, stopping her protests. Kris turned to face Courtney again, though she kept addressing May, hand slowly moving towards her waist.

"Too bad I call the shots in this group," Kris continued. "And right now, I'm telling you to... JUMP!"

Kris threw herself on the ground and quickly opened Croc's Poké Ball, sending out her trusty Feraligatr. At the same time, May jumped down the waterfall and to the lower parts of the cave, dragging the clueless Brendan with her. Courtney ordered Houndoom to use Flamethrower, but Croc was ready to block, extinguishing the flames with a Hydro Pump attack that the dark-type dodged only barely.

"Ugh," Courtney groaned. "That wasn't a very nice move."

"You've held an innocent man here against his will for days," Kris reminded. "Why do _I_ have to be nice?"

"It's for the good of all and blah," Courtney trailed off. "Really, though, we're just following orders. We're kind of like Pokémon in that regard. Houndoom, Thunder Fang!"

Houndoom's fangs glowed and yellow and sparks of electricity formed around its mouth. Before Kris could counter the move, the Houndoom had leaped on Croc and bitten its arm. Croc tried to swipe back with its claws, but Houndoom easily dodged while still biting down on the Feraligatr's arm.

"Superpower!" Kris ordered.

Once again gathering all of its energy into one punch attack, Croc took a swing at the Houndoom, but it was far too fast was the bulky water-type.

"Hold still, damn it!" Kris yelled.

"Never!" Courtney yelled back. "Dark Pulse!"

"Protect!" Kris panicked.

Meanwhile, May's Combusken and Breloom were fighting against everything the remaining five Magma Grunts attempted to throw her away – basically three Mightyena and two Golbat. Effortlessly blocking the enemies' attacks and supporting each other by switching their foes from time to time, the two fighting-types had no trouble keeping their enemies away.

Brendan used the opportunity to rush to professor Cozmo, untie him and drag him to safety, the professor being either too scared or too weakened to move on his own. Getting to cover, Brendan watched the battle. May picked up a jagged rock from the ground and actually joined the fight on her own, beating on both the enemy Pokémon and their trainers with the improvised weapon while making a shrill battle cry. Though Brendan had seen May be wild before, _this_ was completely new to him.

"Brendan!" May yelled mid-battle. "If you got the professor safe, _I could use a hand_!"

"Um... right," Brendan muttered and randomly opened one of his Poké Balls.

Brendan's Manectric came out and awaited its command, but Brendan had no idea what to do. He had sworn off battling so long ago, and even teaming up with May, the enemy still had 250% more power than they had...

May's Breloom fell to one of the Golbat using Wing Attack, but in response, May threw her rock at it, knocking it out while Combusken took care of a Mightyena.

_200% now, I guess_.

"Brendan, hurry up!" May snarled.

"Golbat, Air Cutter!" one of the Magma Grunts ordered.

The still-remaining Golbat flapped its wings rapidly, creating a strong gust of wind with blue energy inside it. With Breloom not in the way anymore, the Air Cutter headed straight for May. Though May tried to dodge, the Air Cutter still managed to swipe past her, leaving a long cut in her cheek and smearing blood all over her shirt.

That was when things got real.

"Manectric, Discharge!" Brendan yelled.

"Combusken, Overheat!" May roared in abject rage.

Combusken's entire body glowed red as it released a burst of fire from its body at the enemies all over, while Manectric concentrated all of its power into attack, sending bolts of electricity flying in every direction. The combined attacks created a fiery explosion that knocked all of the Pokémon on the field around, the unprepared Magma Grunts getting also blasted into the river.

May was briefly knocked out by the attack, but woke up after a couple of seconds. Combusken had used all of its energy, smoke pouring out of its body as it panted, while Manectric had been knocked out by the blast just like the Pokémon the Magmas were using. It took May a moment to notice that she hadn't been affected by the blast at all, as someone had shielded her.

Brendan lay on top of her, his clothes and hat having been charred by the power of the explosion. Seeing Brendan lay motionless caused May's heart to skip a beat, but a few seconds later, Brendan was groaning and moving around. Noticing where he was, Brendan quickly jumped on his feet, only to wince afterward.

"You okay?" May asked him.

"I think so," Brendan grunted. "But my clothes are ruined..."

"Good," May said and promptly slapped Brendan across the face.

"Ow!" Brendan wailed.

"Don't do anything that stupid again," May said. "Also... thank you."

"Wha..."

"Now let's go help Kris!"

In the meantime, Courtney's Houndoom had done major damage to Kris' Pokémon. Croc had fell to the Dark Pulse, as did Chandelure, while Honchkrow didn't stand long against Houndoom's intense fire attacks. Houndoom itself didn't look worse for wear, and Kris had to resort to her last Pokémon.

Unfortunately.

"Shrew, go!"

Yes, Kris' only remaining Pokémon was her Sandshrew. To be honest, it had done well in the Silver Conference and had even proved vital distracting Mewtwo long enough for Kris to trap it in the Poké Ball. But as Shrew squealed in fear and curled itself into a ball upon seeing the Houndoom growl at it, Kris was reminded why she didn't use Shrew very often. Courtney just laughed.

"Seriously, you're this desperate?" Courtney asked mockingly. "What's the big deal anyway? Just do what we ask you to and nobody gets hurt."

Courtney pulled out a knife from her pocket so fast Kris could swear it suddenly materialized in her hand.

"Though I may have to back down on that promise," she continued menacingly. "Because you're _really_ getting on my nerves now. Why won't you make a deal?"

"Why do you even have to ask?" Kris retorted, keeping her eye on the sharp blade. "I don't see any of your flunkies coming to your aid – I guess my friends took care of them. That means Cozmo is fine, too, and you've already lost. But most importantly, _Courtney_, we don't make _deals_ with you people. Regardless of our odds, you'll lose every single time."

Courtey smiled. "How long do you think you can hold on to those naïve beliefs?"

"Long as it takes," Kris said.

"_Well spoken, Kris!_"

Even Courtney was briefly distracted by the strange voice that seemed to come from beneath her feet, and was forced to drop her knife as something emerged from underground: an Aggron, clutching on none other than Steven Stone, looking much healthier than before. Aggron's body became surrounded by a bluish-white aura as it charged at the surprised Houndoom, smashing the fire-type with its head and knocking it out with a single blow. Courtney recalled her Pokémon, but couldn't go anywhere as Aggron was gunning for her next.

"Even if it doesn't always work out in real life," Steven continued calmly as he glared at Courtney, "you should always try to stay true to your beliefs. Nice to see you again, Courtney."

"Likewise," Courtney grumbled.

"How do _you_ know her?" Kris wondered.

"I used to be a Coordinator," Courtney said before Steven could offer her piece. "I knew our lord and Champion Wallace before he was even a gym leader. And wherever he went, Stevie boy was always at his side."

"And then you went and joined Team Magma," Steven said. "But I guess all good things, like sanity, must come to an end."

"Joke all you want," Courtney smirked, "but our leader has a plan. Even if you defeated me here today, he will-"

"Courtney," Steven interrupted, his voice dead serious. "Your boss, Maxie, was found on Mt. Chimney earlier today. He and everyone else there was dead. I'm sorry."

Courtney frowned at Steven and laughed defiantly, almost as if wanting to make the whole thing a joke. When Steven's expression remained even, a look of horror slowly appeared on Courtney's face, all traces of her smug expression gone. Her eyes wide, Courtney just stared at Steven for the longest time, slightly shaking her head.

"But... that can't be right," she muttered. "He... Maxie will..."

"I doubt she's a threat anymore," Steven said and turned away from the utterly defeated Courtney. "Oh, your friends are coming. We should attend to the professor instead."

Kris looked back at the devastated Courtney, who had fallen on her knees and was just staring at the ground. Even after everything, Kris felt a pang of guilt just leaving her there, but didn't protest as she followed Steven out of the cave.

Together, Kris, May, Brendan and Steven returned Cozmo to his lab and got him some food and water. Though still needing medical attention and unfit to tell Kris what she wanted to know, Cozmo was still able to talk enough to give Kris a Pokémon in thanks – Kris was happy to accept and scan the thing right as soon as she had left the lab.

"_Ralts, the Feeling Pokémon_," informed SkrillDex after the Poké Ball had been scanned, showing a picture of a small, cute Pokémon with bizarre green hair and a body that made it look like its skin was made of an oversized white nightgown. "_Type: Psychic. The horn on its head can sense the emotions of humans and Pokémon. It is said to hide in the face of hostility and will only trust trainers with a positive disposition. Username Kris is advised to seek for another Pokémon immediately_."

"I already know it, so that insult doesn't work," Kris said flippantly and quickly shoved the PokéDex away.

"I regret giving you the Meteor Falls hint," Steven said. "I had been looking for ways to save Cozmo without giving myself away for hours, but once again, you seemed to do my job for me. I'm sure you understand, though, that once Cozmo recovers, it will be us who will ask him what he knows first."

Kris sighed. "I guess there's no use arguing... unless you let me join-"

"No."

"Worth a shot."

"I suppose it's too late to tell you to keep your noses out of this, though," Steven mused. "Several dozen people have died already. Team Aqua might be somehow involved. So I'm willing to let you in on this a bit."

"Whoa!" Brendan exclaimed in protest. "I'm happy to help, but I don't want to end up being a permanent part of this!"

"But you will, whether you like it or not," May said.

"...damn it."

Steven gave Kris his calling card.

"Keep an eye out for Team Aqua activity," he said. "You can keep traveling like you have done so far, but remember to report everything to that number. It goes to my Xtransceiver and it can't be traced or tapped, so don't worry. Remember: call me _immediately_ if you see anything."

"Will do!" Kris promised and put the card in her pocket. "Can't you tell me anything about your next move, though? What's the LPS going to do?"

Steven opened his Poké Ball, letting his Skarmory out. The steel bird landed right next to Steven, allowing him to jump on its back with the same casual attitude most people had while mounting a bicycle.

"I'm sorry to keep you in the dark, but I'm not repeating my mistakes," Steven said simply. "Farewell for now!"

And with that, Skarmory rocketed into the air and soared into the sky.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: TV Tower, Lilycove City**_

Reporter Gabby and cameraman Ty stood before their bearded boss, Archie at the topmost floor of the TV Station, attempting to plead their case, but Archie just lounged in his chair with his feet on his desk, his shirt open casually and not exactly what one would expect from a television executive.

"The other channels will catch wind of this soon!" Gabby argued. "I don't mean to question your orders, sir-"

"And yet you're doing just that," Archie pointed out.

"We got the scoop first thanks to following that Johto girl!" Gabby said. "We have video evidence that the people in charge were Team Aqua, not 'unidentified criminals'."

"I'm sorry, but do _you_ wish to incite the attention of potentially dangerous criminals?" Archie asked. "Be happy that we got to report about this first. Besides, I have another job for you and it's related to those criminals you want to talk about so much."

Archie gave Gabby a paper with the specifics of the scoop printed on it.

"There has been reports of Team Magma activity on Mt. Chimney," Archie said. "The situation has been contained, so don't worry about any danger."

"And what about potentially inciting _them_?" Gabby asked pointedly.

Archie smiled. "You'll see when you get there. Now off you go, both of you!"

Resigned, Gabby and Ty left Archie's office. The moment they were gone, Archie closed the shutters of his office window and walked over to a nondescript piece of the wall behind crates of equipment. Moving the crates, Archie was able to pry open a hidden door in the wall and walk down a flight of stairs into a hidden room.

Three people in Team Aqua uniforms awaited him, Archie putting on the Team Aqua trademark bandanna and greeting his minions, Shelly, Tabitha and Lunick, warmly.

"Sorry for the delay," Archie smirked as he sat on the chair reserved for him. "Right off the bat, big thanks to Tabitha for successfully carrying out both operations. I have good news for you: Maxie is dead."

Tabitha grinned, Shelly applauded with her face bright, while Lunick didn't seem to care, he just sat on the floor and looked like he was meditating.

"Clearly, you chose the right side, Tabitha," Archie praised, while Tabitha just smirked proudly. "Unfortunately, the great book on the art of war is pretty clear... traitors and double agents aren't people you want around you. Sorry, but I want you gone."

Even the big, brawny Tabitha looked like he was about to soil himself as Archie pulled a revolver on him. Smiling nonchalantly, Archie aimed at him and pulled the trigger.

Tabitha squealed in terror while Shelly backed away, but nothing happened. The revolver mainly fired a scroll of paper that hit Tabitha's face harmlessly. Hand shaking, Tabitha opened the scroll and started reading.

"Your instructions," Archie said pleasantly. "I want you to lay low in Slateport City and make sure our operation succeeds. Now get going."

At first, Tabitha just stared at his boss, but as Archie raised an eyebrow at him, he quickly scrambled on his feet and ran out of the room as Archie's raspy laughter filled the room.

"Ohh, I love that trick," Archie said as he wiped his eyes. "Now, Shelly, Lunick, I want to discuss something with you. It seems your attempt to seize the parts from Captain Stern at Slateport City failed because...?"

"It was that bird who won't leave us alone, guvna!" Shelly protested. "Really, you shouldna left a dodgy little gobber like Lunick there to handle it, sir!"

"If anything, I'd say our mission failed because of the inadequate training the grunts had received," Lunick said calmly, still meditating on the floor with his eyes closed. "Tell me, Shelly, who was in charge of their training again?"

"You 'avin a giggle there, mate?!" Shelly snapped at Lunick. "Sir, we don't need-"

"Shelly, my dear, I was just about to _praise_ Lunick for his quick thinking, actually," Archie said smoothly. "His method of disguising our soldiers as the museum's security was ingenious, and we can exploit it again once the first stage of our plan is complete. Adding his consistent victories against Team Magma to that, and I suppose we can overlook this little slip-up. If anything, our new plan is _far_ superior. Lunick, you are excused – go to Lilycove and round up all of our members. It's time to prepare them for our moment of triumph!"

"Yes, sir," Lunick said, stood up and bowed.

Before he left, however, he turned to look at Archie.

"I need you to clarify one thing, though," Lunick told him. "You're... you're sure that without Team Magma in the way, our plan can succeed?"

"Is there something troubling you?" Archie asked.

Lunick bit his lip. "Over two thirds of Team Magma has been destroyed. You convinced me that they were people who had squandered their chances of living, but... I wonder if the price was too much."

"Lunick, dear boy," Archie said pleasantly. "Don't bother yourself with things like that. The world will return to its natural state soon enough – I promised you, after all."

Lunick stared at Archie for a while, but eventually nodded hesitantly and walked away. Next, Archie addressed Shelly.

"We need someone like him to boost our troops' morale," he explained to her. "With him and that powerful Pokémon doing our bidding, we absolutely can't lose. You understand?"

Shelly nodded, and Archie smiled.

"Good girl," he smirked and leaned back on his chair, staring at the ceiling with a content look on his face. "Ah, Maxie. You were always so superior, but at the first sign of defeat, got desperate and paid the price. I wanted to snap his neck myself... but I suppose I should show more gratitude towards our Eon beast."

"What about the orders from the big knobs, sir?" Shelly asked. "We were supposed to catch that little bugger – and lord Cyrus isn't gonna appreciate this."

"Oh, I have _far_ better use for it, dear Shelly," Archie said. "I want Cyrus to know he can't boss us around anymore. I want to see him grovel at my feet. And I want _you_... to get to Mt. Pyre, and make it snappy!"

Shelly saluted. "Sir!"

As soon as Archie was alone, he started chuckling to himself again. He grabbed a blue and white Poké Ball marked with an 'M' symbol from his pocket and started caressing it.

"I _want_... I want everything," he muttered to himself. "I want absolute control. I want my faithful army at my side. And I want you..." Archie lifted the Master Ball into the air, imagining what it would look like when the Pokémon of his dreams was finally sucked in. "...Rayquaza!"


End file.
